Shaun Ryder reveals cancer scare in lockdown after discovering a painful benign growth in his testicle
HAPPY Mondays hellraiser Shaun Ryder has revealed his life is being made misery by a lump on his testicles.
Shaun, 57, was relieved to discover the growth was not cancerous — but it is touching a nerve and causing him pain.
And because non-urgent surgery has been postponed by the Covid-19 crisis, he is forced to grin and bear it.
Shaun, whose 1990 hit Step On included the line “You’re twistin’ my melon, man,” said: “This non-malignant growth in my testicle is pressing on a nerve.
"It’s like having really bad toothache in your b***s.
“I can have the growth chucked out but I should’ve gone before lockdown started.”
Dad-of-six Shaun was infamous for his drugs and booze lifestyle in the 90s.
He cleaned up his act after meeting second wife Joanne and in 2010 was back in the spotlight when he appeared on ITV’s I’m A Celebrity.
But Shaun said the cancer scare has forced him confront his own mortality.
He added: “I was one of those dudes who never thought I could die, no matter what.
"I now think I’m not invincible.
“It doesn’t worry me about dying, it’s just that because I’ve got young kids, who are now 11 and 12, and I don’t want to go because of them.
“The other ones have grown up but these two are still young, so it’s like ‘F****** hell, I can’t go anywhere because of them.’ That’s what I panic about.”
Shaun, currently in Celebrity Gogglebox every Friday night, has suffered a string of ailments in recent years, including arthritis, alopecia, a thyroid problem and panic attacks.
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Recently he had to have a hip replaced — then his whole family got coronavirus.
Shaun said he has been observing strict social-distancing — apart from with Happy Mondays’ bandmate Bez.
He said: “We still give each other a hug. Bez doesn’t get ill. He’s an android.”
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