Radio 2’s Tony Blackburn reveals secret sepsis battle that was so serious his family gathered at hospital to say goodbye

RADIO 2 legend Tony Blackburn said he caught life-threating sepsis earlier this year with his family gathering at his hospital bed to say goodbye.

The radio veteran had previously not revealed the extent of his illness, which saw him spending two months in hospital earlier this year.

Tony, 80, fell unwell during his Sound of the 60s Live tour in March and said at the time he was suffering from a chest infection.

Opening up for the first time about his illness, Tony said: “I was doing three a week at one time forgetting that I’m now a little bit older, so I ended up in hospital for two months with sepsis and pneumonia and blood poisoning.

“I didn’t realise how unwell I was until one day in the hospital my whole family were gathered around the bed. “And I thought ‘this isn’t good’.”

Tony, who is one of the corporation’s longest serving stars, confirmed he believed it was the intensity of his schedule which saw him fall ill.

He returned to his Radio 2 show in May and is now back out on the road with his live tour but admitted he was taking it easier.

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland, Tony added: “I haven’t been doing the (tour) show for about three months because I was told to rest a little bit. Now I’m back in form and we’re selling out.

“Instead of doing three a week I’m just going to do one a week.”

Tony started his career as a radio DJ in the Sixties working on offshore pirate stations Radio Caroline and Radio London.

He went on to join the BBC in 1967 and was the first ever DJ to be heard on Radio 1 when it launched in that year.

As well as presenting across BBC radio, Tony won the first series of I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! in 2002.