Jamie Theakston has given a major update on his cancer journey after being diagnosed with stage one laryngeal cancer. Jamie said he’d had an “awful” five months battling cancer as he returned to the radio, telling his co-star Amanda Holden: “I’ve had enough of hospitals and operations. I’ve got some news for you, because I can tell you that as of today, I am cancer-free.”
The star said he was given a 1 in 6 chance he’d never speak again after numerous surgeries to help fix his throat, and was given a 1 in 10 chance of dying. Jamie went to the doctor assuming he’d be told it was a simple sore throat – and was told instead “it’s probably cancer.”
Later, he announced his return to Heart FM: “I’ve got some more news for you, because I can tell you that on Monday I will be back on the show!” Jason King – better known as JK – was told “today is your last show” after standing in for Jamie.
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Amanda said she couldn’t believe how “tanned and thin” Jamie looked, as he confessed: “I’ve had enough of hospitals and operations. It’s just lovely to be back.”
An emotional Amanda said: “I think the worst thing when something like this happens to you is the amount of tests, the amount of doctors and hospitals you have to face – and then the waiting around for results.”
Jamie added: “Scans! I’ve had scanxiety. Anyone who’s been through what I’ve been through will know, you just get a barrage of statistics. When I got my diagnosis – which came as an awful shock by the way, I was fully intending to be told that I had a sore throat – when I was told it’s probably cancer, literally I didn’t even know what to say. It just blew my mind.”
Doctors told him: “There’s a 1 in 10 chance you won’t survive it.” Jamie said: “I had to go, ‘Okay, I’ll take that.’ I had to do several surgeries – the first surgery wasn’t as successful as we hoped.
“I had a second surgery, and then a third surgery, and each time I was doing more and more damage to my vocal cords. In actual fact by the third surgery they said, ‘You’ve got a 1 in 6 chance you might not be able to talk again’.
“You kind of think, ‘oh, okay, that’s like rolling a dice. I’ll take that’.”
Amanda mused: “It’s also horrific for your loved ones. Your lovely wife Sophie and the boys, to have to love you through it. I know they probably had to go to different corners of the house and silently weep in order to come back to you stronger.”