The Heart Radio DJ, 54, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of laryngeal cancer last year and subsequently underwent three operations
Jamie Theakston has opened up tearfully about his battle with laryngeal cancer in an emotional conversation with Davina McCall. The Heart Radio DJ, 54, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of the disease last September, after initially dismissing his symptoms as merely a sore throat.
Thankfully, Jamie is now cancer-free, having undergone multiple surgeries to remove a malignant lesion from his vocal cords. Yet, in a new episode of the Begin Again podcast, he emphasised just how shocking this ordeal was against the backdrop of exciting holiday plans with his family.
He said, looking for the right words: “So, when I got my cancer diagnosis, it came as such a huge shock to me because it was so surprising, like there was no… it just came as such a broadside because… so, I’d had this sore throat for a while, and we were about to go on holiday.
“We’re going to, we’re off to Japan. In fact, I think we were meant to be flying to Japan that day and my wife said, ‘You should go and see someone before we go, just to get some antibiotic to clear up your throat’.”
Jamie promptly visited a specialist who, despite being ‘lovely’, had the ‘worst bedside manner of any doctor’ he’d ever met. On looking at his throat, he immediately concluded that it was ‘probably cancer’ and put Jamie through several tests and scans.
A few hours later, the radio DJ then went on holiday as planned while awaiting the results of these examinations. Although he had a fantastic time, he felt he couldn’t share with his family what was truly happening and kept it a secret for two weeks.
“I didn’t tell anyone,” he said. “…At that stage, I thought, well, it might not be cancer. So, there’s no point really in saying.”
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Jamie eventually received biopsy results, which confirmed he did, in fact, have early-stage cancer. He went home and told his wife, Sophie Siegle, who was utterly distraught.
With tears in his eyes, Jamie continued: “My mum had died of cancer about a year before. And so my youngest son, he was with me when I was told my mum had died from cancer, knew that you could die. And so, I told him that it was going to be fine and that he had nothing to worry about, and that was the hardest part.”
Once diagnosed, Jamie underwent an operation at the Princess Grace Hospital in Central London. Doctors initially deemed this a successful procedure, but they later confirmed they weren’t certain the entire cancer had been removed.
The 54-year-old DJ subsequently underwent a second surgery but encountered another setback when scar tissue overlapped his vocal cords, affecting his voice. This meant Jamie required a third surgery, although medics emphasised they were getting ‘dangerously close’ to him never being able to speak again.
He said: “And so, that had now gone from being, I’ve got cancer that I should be able to live with to a situation where they’ve gone, well, ‘We’re now dangerously close to you not being able to talk,’ which is new.
“I was like, wow, I hadn’t really factored that into the whole equation.” Fortunately, Jamie’s voice is still intact, and he made a triumphant return to Heart Radio Breakfast, which he hosts with Amanda Holden, in January.
On the day of his comeback, he told listeners: “Today is the four-month anniversary of my cancer diagnosis. So it’s been four months, and I’ve had enough of hospitals and operations, and it’s just lovely to be back, and I’ve got some news for you.
“Because I can tell you that as of today, I’m cancer free.”