By Matt Jackson

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Richard Osman has disclosed that he favours audiobooks due to his eyesight being “not great”. The former Pointless host became a bestselling writer following the launch of his debut novel in 2020. The Thursday Murder Club proved popular with both critics and audiences, and was even adapted into a film by streaming platform Netflix. Despite his love for storytelling, Richard confesses he prefers listening to his books rather than reading them. This is because he lives with nystagmus – a lifelong eye condition that causes involuntary eye movements and blurs his vision, reports Wales Online . The 54-year-old shared his audiobook preference during The Rest is Entertainment. This came as Richard highlighted how the prestigious Sunday Times Bestseller list only counts sales from physical copies, excluding Kindle editions or audiobooks. Richard noted that audiobooks have experienced a surge in popularity. He said: “Audio is becoming a bigger and bigger part of it and people are putting a lot more money into it. I’ve said before that I listen to a lot of audiobooks because my eyesight is not great and there’s a lot of people like that. “I think if you’re reading on hardback, audio or Kindle, it’s the same book, so it makes no sense that it’s not included. As a rule of thumb, you can maybe add on another 50 or 60% to hardback sales if you’re looking at audio and Kindle. “Later on when the paperback’s out that comes down a little bit but it’s a huge business.” Richard went on to say he would “love” to see the bestseller list adjusted to include digital copies. He added: “I see what the numbers say and then I see what the actual numbers are and those two things are very different. “I’ve never seen a situation where the audio and Kindle version made a massive difference to the chart, in terms of positions.” In the past, Richard has spoken candidly about his struggles with nystagmus, a condition that affects his ability to read autocues. He described his vision as: “I see the world as if I was driving in dense fog, although I can’t drive. I can see that there are things there, but everything is blurred. “Nothing has sharp definition. Lights have huge halos that blind you. I’ve had it since birth so that’s all I know.” He credits his inability to read the blackboard at school for honing his listening skills to an “unbelievably good” level, a skill he believes has played a significant role in his television career. “I’ve learnt to maximise what I’ve got. I can’t read an autocue, which means I have to be more reactive to what’s going on,” he told The i Paper. Pointless viewers once noticed Richard “shaking” due to his condition, leading to concerns the star might have Parkinson’s. In a social media post he clarified: “And for anyone asking, I promise I wasn’t shaking. I have a condition called nystagmus which makes my eyes constantly flicker.”