Inside Password host Stephen Mangan's life off-screen from odd addiction to family tragedy

Stephen Mangan, the host of ITV's latest gameshow The Fortune Hotel, has a rich history in acting and comedy. He's known for his roles as Guy Secretan in Green Wing, Dan Moody in I'm Alan Partridge, Sean Lincoln in Episodes and Bigwig in Watership Down.

Now, he's taken on presenting duties for ITV's new version of The Traitors, which aired earlier this year.

The Fortune Hotel saw contestants deceive each other, participate in challenges and identify the traitors among them. Ten couples were whisked away to a luxury Caribbean resort with the opportunity to win £250,000.

Stephen confessed that accepting the presenting role was an easy decision. But what about his life off-camera?

A family tragedy had a profound impact on Stephen. He has previously opened up about how losing his mother at the age of 45 drastically altered his life, reports the Mirror.

After her death from bowel cancer when he was just 21, he "hid" for three years. "I left university in May or June and my mum got ill in early September," he shared on the White Wine Question Time podcast.

"I'd gotten this law degree, but I wasn't intending to be a lawyer. I didn't really know what I want, I wanted to be an actor, but it was just so far out of my family experience and the people I knew."

He shared: "Mum died six months later and when you watch your mum go from an incredibly healthy, active 45 year old and watch her decline in six months and then die, it's a profound and very, very vivid demonstration of how fragile we are and how little time we're alive.

"I think I had my audition for [Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts] maybe a week after she died, I applied a few weeks before she passed and just thought, this is I want to do."

"I did three years at [Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts] and I think part of the reason that was good and useful for me was not only was I doing what I wanted to do, but I could hide from the world for three years because I was really grieving and my whole life was thrown into chaos. [...] It was a little cocoon that I could hide in while I tried to process what had happened to my mum."

Stephen also sadly lost his dad to cancer when he died of a brain tumour at the age of 63.

Stephen is married to actress Louise Delamere, who is known for her roles in Channel 4 comedy-drama No Angels and Holby City. They have been married since 2007 and share three sons together - Henry, Frank and Jack.

Louise has since decided to step away from the spotlight, having last performed in ITV drama Houdini and Doyle in 2016.

Not just his wife, Stephen's sister Anita is also a public figure in the world of art and design. A renowned artist and graphic designer, Anita has lent her talent to the pages of children's literature, including works by Stephen himself.

Her credits include illustrations for 'The Fart That Changed the World' and 'The Unlikely Rise of Harry Sponge. ' Additionally, the family boasts another sibling, Lisa, who reportedly has over twenty years of experience in media relations.

The television personality opened up about his own struggles with addiction, expressing relief that he never succumbed to substances such as heroin.

Speaking to The Times, he shared: "Running is about as good as it gets for me. It's my happy place and it fills me with joy. Whatever it does for me, I'm just pleased it's that and not heroin, although running can feel like a religious experience."