My secret battle with cancer, by Strictly Come Dancing judge Len
Strictly Come Dancing judge Len Goodman has undergone surgery to remove a cancerous tumour in his prostate gland, he has revealed.
He had the operation three weeks ago – without telling any of his BBC colleagues – and now says he feels ‘right as rain’.
The 65-year-old told The Mail on Sunday he will be back on the show in the autumn, and credited his swift recovery to doctors spotting the disease early at his annual check-up.
He said: ‘I’ve had the surgery now. Everything’s gorgeously good. I’ll be back in September for sure.’
Len first discovered he had cancer in March but decided not to get treatment until after he had finished filming Dancing With The Stars, the American version of Strictly.
‘I could have said “sorry” and not done the show, but the doctors felt I wasn’t riddled with it and it wasn’t so far advanced that it was a life-or-death scenario,’ he said.
‘It takes a few weeks to get everything set up for the operation anyway, so I went ahead and did the show. I had the surgery done as soon as I got back from America.’
The news of Len’s cancer scare will come as a shock to colleagues on the hit BBC show, hosted by Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly, because the ballroom dancing teacher has told only his closest friends and family.
‘No one at the BBC knows,’ he said. ‘I didn’t want to tell everyone – it’s not necessary to blabber it out to everyone.
‘People generally think “bloody hell”. With all the hoo-ha about Strictly coming up, I thought, “Just my luck, they won’t want that old f**t on it, the cancer-riddled, bed-ridden old so-and–so.” But they haven’t said that because I haven’t told them. I’ve only told half a dozen people
Len admitted he feared the worst when the disease was first discovered, but remained upbeat during his treatment.
‘I feel good,’ he said. ‘I was obviously worried at the start. We all worry if we get something like this. You do feel a bit vulnerable, but as long as you come out the other side all right, why worry?’
The private operation at a Bupa hospital in Blackheath, South-East London, was conducted by one of Britain’s leading urologists, Peter Thompson.
‘I was confined to the hospital for four days, and then it’s been a couple of weeks of convalescing and recuperating,’ he said.
‘The trouble with doctors is they won’t tell you definitely what you should do. They leave it to you. So yours is an uneducated guess. They said I could have radiation, but I thought the best thing was to have it removed.
‘It was left to me and I felt that was the best route, but whether it is or not I don’t know. You’re a bit sore for a while and you can’t play golf, which is the biggest blow at the moment. But I will be able to in a month’s time or so – I can’t wait.’
Len, who runs his own dance school in Dartford, Kent, urged middle-aged men to go for regular check-ups, saying: ‘Men, probably more than women, tend to ignore their health.
‘As long as you get checked up every year, then medicine is such now that if you do get something, then hopefully they can catch it early and you have a good chance.
‘I think that’s the most important thing – men of a certain age should have their check-up every year.’
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz....html?ITO=1490
Poor Len,lets all wish him a speedy recovery
Strictly Come Dancing judge Len Goodman has undergone surgery to remove a cancerous tumour in his prostate gland, he has revealed.
He had the operation three weeks ago – without telling any of his BBC colleagues – and now says he feels ‘right as rain’.
The 65-year-old told The Mail on Sunday he will be back on the show in the autumn, and credited his swift recovery to doctors spotting the disease early at his annual check-up.
He said: ‘I’ve had the surgery now. Everything’s gorgeously good. I’ll be back in September for sure.’
Len first discovered he had cancer in March but decided not to get treatment until after he had finished filming Dancing With The Stars, the American version of Strictly.
‘I could have said “sorry” and not done the show, but the doctors felt I wasn’t riddled with it and it wasn’t so far advanced that it was a life-or-death scenario,’ he said.
‘It takes a few weeks to get everything set up for the operation anyway, so I went ahead and did the show. I had the surgery done as soon as I got back from America.’
The news of Len’s cancer scare will come as a shock to colleagues on the hit BBC show, hosted by Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly, because the ballroom dancing teacher has told only his closest friends and family.
‘No one at the BBC knows,’ he said. ‘I didn’t want to tell everyone – it’s not necessary to blabber it out to everyone.
‘People generally think “bloody hell”. With all the hoo-ha about Strictly coming up, I thought, “Just my luck, they won’t want that old f**t on it, the cancer-riddled, bed-ridden old so-and–so.” But they haven’t said that because I haven’t told them. I’ve only told half a dozen people
Len admitted he feared the worst when the disease was first discovered, but remained upbeat during his treatment.
‘I feel good,’ he said. ‘I was obviously worried at the start. We all worry if we get something like this. You do feel a bit vulnerable, but as long as you come out the other side all right, why worry?’
The private operation at a Bupa hospital in Blackheath, South-East London, was conducted by one of Britain’s leading urologists, Peter Thompson.
‘I was confined to the hospital for four days, and then it’s been a couple of weeks of convalescing and recuperating,’ he said.
‘The trouble with doctors is they won’t tell you definitely what you should do. They leave it to you. So yours is an uneducated guess. They said I could have radiation, but I thought the best thing was to have it removed.
‘It was left to me and I felt that was the best route, but whether it is or not I don’t know. You’re a bit sore for a while and you can’t play golf, which is the biggest blow at the moment. But I will be able to in a month’s time or so – I can’t wait.’
Len, who runs his own dance school in Dartford, Kent, urged middle-aged men to go for regular check-ups, saying: ‘Men, probably more than women, tend to ignore their health.
‘As long as you get checked up every year, then medicine is such now that if you do get something, then hopefully they can catch it early and you have a good chance.
‘I think that’s the most important thing – men of a certain age should have their check-up every year.’
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz....html?ITO=1490
Poor Len,lets all wish him a speedy recovery
Sure kept this hushed up. Get well soon Len.
