Ric Flair’s hospitalisation “is not as grave or serious” as first reported, according to his son-in-law Conrad Thompson

But on a conference call with several reporters, Ric’s son-in-law Conrad - who is married to his daughter Megan - has insisted the visit was pre-planned so that Ric could undergo a procedure before travelling to Las Vegas next week for Starrcast II.

Conrad said on the call: "Ric was not worried about this. Ric did not think this was going to be reported or on TMZ. It's all systems go. The Roast of Ric Flair is still happening.”

He added that the situation is not “as grave or serious” as first thought.

Ric’s hospitalisation comes as he’s had several brushes with death in the past, including having been involved in a plane crash and being struck by lightning.

Most recently, Ric was placed in a medically induced coma for 11 days in 2017 when he was diagnosed with the early stages of kidney failure and congestive heart failure due to years of alcohol abuse, and he admitted afterwards that the health scare completely changed his life.

He said: "The airplane crash and the lightning didn't change anything but the health scare has changed my life not drastically but it changed my lifestyle eventually.

"Number one I lost 43lbs when I was in the hospital, I had to learn how to walk again - I could stand but I couldn't walk. I couldn't even open a bottle of Gatorade or a Diet Coke. I was so weak and obviously it left me with issues that I had to deal with daily.

"Also the fact that I can't drink anymore, which is really painful."