Will & Grace star Sean Hayes drove himself to the hospital twice in one night due to his heart issues. The actor’s health issues came up during the Monday, Nov. 18 episode of his SmartLess podcast with Will Arnett and guest Hugh Grant, as the Arrested Development star teased Grant over his complaints about jet lag.
“I can’t do it anymore,” Grant, 64, said of his flight from London to Los Angeles. “I think that’s another age thing. I woke up hours ago very, very hungry and felt like my heart is made of Play-Doh.”
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Arnett, 54, responded by bringing up Hayes’ atrial fibrillation (AFib), an irregular and often very rapid heart rhythm, which can lead to blood clots in the heart and also increases the risk of stroke, heart failure, and other heart-related complications, according to the Mayo Clinic. In certain instances, people can require shock treatments in order to get their heart back into regular rhythm.
“Hugh, you should know this that Sean, two, three nights ago, woke up in the middle of the night with a heart issue, drove himself to Cedars-Sinai [Medical Center]—didn’t wake up his husband,” Arnett said. When Hayes got to the hospital, “they brought the paddles out, they put him under. They paddled them. He drove home.”
An hour after Hayes got home that night, “he woke up to use the bathroom again and drove himself back to Cedars and got paddled again,” Arnett continued. Hayes, 54, chimed in, “And then we had dinner that night.”
“So you’re jet-lagged by comparison. And I’m not saying this to make you feel bad…” Arnett told Grant, who quipped in response, “But no, you are, and I just feel humiliated.”
Hayes has been open about his health issues over the years, speaking about his condition as a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live! back in 2021. “I have AFib,” he told host Jimmy Kimmel at the time. “So your heart beats [very fast]. You feel like you’re gonna die. So when I go to the ER… at Cedars-Sinai, I’m like Norm from Cheers, because I’m in there all the time.”
Hayes explained that because he is such a regular at the hospital, he knows the routine inside and out. “I know exactly what needs to be happening,’” he joked. “Look, this is how this gonna go. You’re gonna give me propofol. I’m gonna go out, you’re gonna go, ‘Clear,’ and I’m gonna go home.”
