Adam Hills, best known as the quick-witted host of The Last Leg , has come a long way from being a sports-mad kid who once hid his foot prosthesis. Poised to become the President of the Rugby Football League, the Australian comedian and TV presenter opens up about his passion for para-standing tennis , mingling with royalty , and even a short-lived foray into music. In this weekend’s 60 Seconds , Adam shares the key moments that shaped him, the challenges he’s faced, and his latest project, a documentary aimed at changing the conversation around disability sports .
Tell us about Foot Fault...
There’s always been this thing in the back of my mind – why can’t I play tennis against other people with disabilities like me? Why isn’t there a category of tennis for people who aren’t in wheelchairs? A year and a half ago I found para-standing tennis. It was like a worldwide underground movement of people with disabilities who don’t need or can’t use a wheelchair. For example, if you’ve one arm, or you have certain forms of cerebral palsy.
How does para-standing tennis work? There are four categories. The first is for arm amputees; category two is for below-knee amputees or mild cerebral palsy; three is for above-knee or double amputees and people with severe cerebral palsy; and four is for short-statured people. Categories three and four get two bounces.
The courts are exactly the same as able-bodied tennis. The quality’s great and it’s fast-paced. You have moments when you look at other players and wonder, how are you doing that? There is one guy with no arms.
He tucks the racket under one stump and puts the other stump through the neck of the racket, and somehow uses his shoulders to swing. Did you get to meet any big names from tennis for the documentary? Pat Cash. I played against him in a couple of pro-celebrity games over the years and we’ve kept in touch.
We also had a Come-And-Try day at the National Tennis Centre, the first ever for para-standing tennis in the UK, and Andy Murray was practising , so he came over for a chat. We ended up at the Australian Open playing against Dylan Alcott, the greatest wheelchair tennis player of all time. You were born without a right foot.
How much of a barrier was it to you playing sport? My parents were told really early to treat me like any other kid, and not to mollycoddle me. I grew up in Australia in the 1970s and we played cricket in the backyard or on the street. Tennis and rugby league were my two big sports.
I never saw myself as having a disability. It genuinely didn’t stop me from doing anything. It wasn’t until I saw the 2012 Paralympics that I thought, oh my God, I want to be one of those disabled people – they look really cool.
Was tennis your first love? Yes. I started playing aged five. I was playing competitive local tennis at 12 and ended up as a professional tennis coach when I was 18 or 19.
I stopped coaching because stand-up comedy took over. Did you experience any bullying? I was lucky as a kid – if there was anything I wanted to do, I’d find a way to do it, like tennis, rugby league and golf. The only difficulty came in summer because I had to wear shorts, and then it was obvious I had something different about me.
I spent many years with my socks pulled up to try to cover up the disability and then I was bullied for having my socks pulled up. I decided to pull my socks down, so they stopped bullying me and people were really good about the prosthetic. If I was wearing jeans, no one saw it, and most people didn’t even realise it was there.
The biggest setback was I couldn’t wear thongs, or flip-flops, in Australia. Doctors asked me, ‘Is there anything the other kids can do that you can’t?’ I said, ‘I want to be able to wear thongs.’ They made me a prosthetic where the first two toes separated, but the thong kept flying off.
You were appointed MBE in 2022. Does it help you get a table at a busy restaurant? As far as I know, the only thing I get with my MBE is that my children can get married in St Paul’s Cathedral. Princess Anne gave the MBE to me.
She met 100 people that day and she had conversation prepared for every one of them. She said: ‘Why did you come to the UK to do comedy?’ I said: ‘British people need a laugh right now.’ It’s more than 20 years since you had a hit single in Australia.
Any music plans? That was a comedy single. On stage I’d sing the words of the Australian anthem to the tune of Working Class Man by Jimmy Barnes. We released it as a charity single to raise money for firefighters in Australia.
More Trending Married At First Sight UK bride's terrified three-word response to groom's teeth 'Multiple women' come forward over Jermaine Jenas' 'inappropriate behaviour' Britain’s Got Talent star Will Read dies aged 51 Sir Tom Jones defends The Voice UK line-up change after Olly Murs and Anne-Marie’s axing But I was tackled so hard in rugby that my chin was hit back into my voice box and I’ve not been able to sing properly ever since. That’s why Taylor Swift and Adele don’t play rugby..
. Exactly. That’s the reason.
The newly-crowned 'best' commuter spot is a city I'll never go back to This London borough is the best in the capital for first-time buyers You can buy a 30-acre island for less than a London three-bed Get paid to live on this idyllic European island – but there's a catch What I Own: We renovated our £590,000 Tooting three-bed but it's getting too small for us Adam Hills: Foot Fault airs 9pm, Monday on Sky Documentaries and NOW TV MORE : The Metro daily cartoon by Guy Venables MORE : 5 ways to eat and drink cheap in London – plus save up to £200 on tickets to London attractions including Crystal Maze MORE : Metro readers say ‘absolutely not’ as the Butcher of Bosnia sues UK over laptop.
