Rick Astley has poked fun at his coughing fit on The One Show, admitting he thought he was going to have to “walk off” live TV.

The 80s star alarmed viewers when he started choking and spluttering during an interview on the BBC show on Friday (September 5), and fellow singer Ronan Keating had to rush over to pat him on the back.

The moment came up when Rick appeared on BBC Breakfast on Monday (September 8) to plug his upcoming tour, with presenter Jon Kay teasing: “Rick joins us, and you’ve got some water, because you had a bit of a cough, didn’t you, on The One Show?”

“Yeah, I did indeed,” said Rick. “So exciting to be about to cough your head off on live TV, sat next to Ronan Keating!”

“We do it all the time, so for people who didn’t see it, what happened?” presenter Sally Nugent said.

Rick Astley on BBC Breakfast (Image: BBC)

The singer explained: “The show had started and they had done a shot where the two of us are on the couch, so Ronan’s being interviewed and chatting, and I know Ronan a bit, he’s lovely, he’s great.

“And then I just started to feel I had a tickle, and then, so I’m trying to suppress it, you know, having some water and stuff, and I’m clutching my knees, and I’m thinking, I’m about to walk off live television, even though they’ve just introduced me as being on the couch! But we’re all good this morning. I hope so!”

“I don’t know what it was, it was just a tickle,” he went on.

The star said he was “super lucky” with his voice as a rule. “I’ve only cancelled one gig in the whole of my life, and that was because of food poisoning, nothing to do with singing,” he said. “So, yeah, so hopefully we’re good.”

Rick Astley opened up one why he walked off The One Show (Image: BBC)

Jon suggested that if the singer ever had an issue with his voice, the “show must go on”.

“Yeah, but also I think adrenaline kicks in,” Rick said. “The amount of times that I’ve not been fully match fit, let’s say, a bit of a cold or something, but I think your adrenaline just takes over. The excitement of doing it, it still feels like the most exciting thing in the world to me.”

“Well, we’ve got Ronan on standby, just in case you need it,” Jon quipped as Rick laughed.

Rick, 59, also discussed how taking a break from his career had made him enjoy it more.

“I’ve kind of got away from how kind of ridiculous it is and how full of nonsense it is to just view it as a purely beautiful, lovely thing to do,” he said. “I don’t really ever get wrapped up in the fame side of it, all the this, that, and the other.”

The star said that he was “not really famous” most of the time, as he could go to places like the supermarket without being recognised.

“And that’s amazing because I can go and play an arena and then literally be going on the way home or on the way to the hotel and be completely ignored by people,” he said. “Even sometimes the same people who are in the arena.”