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Jamie Theakston would have missed the opportunity to catch his cancer early if it wasn’t for Davina McCall.
In September 2024, the Heart Radio presenter was diagnosed with stage 1 laryngeal cancer after going for a check up, which had been prompted by listeners noticing his voice sounded different on air. He emotionally revealed he was cancer-free last month.
The 54-year-old father of two was off work for months as he underwent operations and treatment for the condition. He reports being told he had a 95 per cent survival rate in the cancer’s first stage, which rapidly dwindles as it progresses. But the presenter almost shrugged off his symptoms at first.
“You do the show for 20 years, and you get a sore throat and it comes and goes,” he told The Times.
“But there were a couple of listeners who said, ‘You really need to get it checked.’ And I guess in many ways that sort of saved my life. Without being too dramatic about it.”
Fan concerns were not the only reason he decided to investigate his symptoms, as Theakston stressed the importance of early detection. While co-presenter Amanda Holden was on holiday, Masked Singer panelist McCall took Holden’s slot and inadvertently prompted concern.
“She’s a very huggy person, Davina,” he said. “She gave me a big hug around my neck and I remember thinking it felt quite uncomfortable. I think she thought, oh God, I’ve done something terrible. But in fact, she just highlighted the problem.”
McCall has battled her own health concerns recently as she had a benign brain tumour removed and made a plea to younger people.
After Theakston’s wife Sophie Siegle also mentioned he had croakiness, he decided to see his GP.
Once the news was confirmed, Theakston struggled to tell Siegle and their family.
“She was devastated. I think it’s odd, when it comes to cancer, there’s a lot of statistics,” he said.
“So when people talk about stage 1 cancer, it’s a 95 per cent survival rate. I felt quite reassured by that – and obviously that can go down to 50 per cent when you get to stage 3 and 4.
“But I think when you say, ‘I’ve got cancer,’ everyone sort of goes into meltdown. She had a lot of questions. And then we told the kids, obviously, and explained to them how it all works and what was going to happen and they were remarkably brave about the whole thing.”
