Jimmy Tarbuck reveals prostate cancer battle and urges men to get tested for disease
Comedian Jimmy Tarbuck announced that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
The 80-year-old told Good Morning Britain that he was recently tested for the disease and encouraged other men to do the same.
“I have prostate cancer and I’m going to try and beat it,” he told hosts Kate Garraway and Adil Ray.
“All men out there watching, and all the wives - get your husbands to go for the tests.
“I think after 50, you will be relieved and be with your families for extra years. Men are shy.”
Asked how he was feeling, he responded cheerfully with: “Right now I feel great. I’m on the telly, I’m having a good time.
“What do I do? Do I say, ‘No, I haven’t got it?’ Own up.”
He revealed that singer Sir Tom Jones had encouraged him to go for tests after he spoke to him about his symptoms.
“Tom Jones was my mentor - he told me what to do,” he added. “He said, ‘I’ve had this done’ and said ‘You’ll get bloods done.’
He said that he is “having these injections and taking these tablets” and explained that the cancer had not spread.
Tarbuck previously revealed that Rod Stewart, whose prostate cancer is now in remission, also inspired him to get tested for the disease.
Speaking to the Mirror earlier this month, he said: “It was very brave of Rod to announce his fight with the disease.
“I listened to what Rod had to say when he was on stage [at a charity concert] and when he said ‘I have beaten it’ that gave us all a boost. And I was thinking, ‘If I have got it, then there is hope.’
“Rod has basically given me the courage to speak about it.”
In January, figures from Public Health England showed that prostate cancer has become the most commonly diagnosed cancer in England, overtaking breast cancer for the first time.
There were nearly 50,000 diagnoses of prostate cancer in 2018, around 8,000 more than the previous year.
Good Morning Britain airs daily from 6am on ITV.
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