James Whale issues heartbreaking update in cancer battle saying he ‘won’t be alive next year’
TALKTV star James Whale has issued a heartbreaking update amid his cancer battle, saying he “won’t be alive next year”.
The radio legend, 71, revealed he had just months to live back in November - two years after he announced the disease had spread to his spine, brain, kidney and lungs.
In a more recent update, while attending the Television and Radio Industries Club Awards this week, he said: “I’m kind of at the end, the end of my treatment.”
But adding humour amongst the heartbreak, James continued: “When I lose a lot more weight when I get really ill, I’ll look fantastic.
“I’ve just come off all the steroids I was on, which made me look like a bloody balloon. I’m feeling better from that.”
His second wife, Nadine Lamont-Brown, who attended alongside him, said: “He’s had all the possible treatments, he’s on a clinical trial but we’re probably going to be winding up on that quite soon. It’s stopped working.”
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And broadcaster James added: “The cancer gets into your head and sometimes you can’t stand noise.
“At the moment, I have got cancer fatigue, which makes you very tired.
“Some days I might feel sorry for myself. I feel sorry for my wife really. It’s more difficult for her.”
James and wife Nadine wed in October 2021, three years after James was widowed when his wife Melinda tragically passed away in May 2018 from lung cancer.
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He said at the time of her diagnosis: "She is having treatment, and I can't give up that last glimmer of hope.
"But the doctors say I have to face facts. She is dying. The thought of losing her is so painful, it is difficult to even contemplate."
The TalkTV host was himself warned he had just three months to live after being diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2000.
But James had his kidney removed and defied the odds by winning his fight against the disease.
When it tragically returned 20 years later, the former CBB contestant decided to be candid about his struggle with cancer with fans.
He previously admitted he considered throwing himself a farewell party and taking his own life after being diagnosed with spine, brain, and kidney cancer.
James is one of the UK’s leading radio broadcasters.
His late-night series, the James Whale Radio Show, which was broadcast live simultaneously on Radio Aire in Leeds and ITV in the 1980s, made the genre famous.
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He spent 13 years presenting weeknights on talkSPORT from 1995 before moving onto a drivetime show on LBC broadcasting every weekday for four years, sparking a huge ratings rise.
He now hosts between 7pm and 10pm on News UK’s booming station talkRADIO alongside long-time co-host Ash Gould.
