judge broke down in tears live on radio on Monday after Heart FM presenter Jamie Theakston credited and thanked her for unwittingly helping him discover he had cancer.
The 54-year-old broadcaster has returned to the airwaves after a four-month break from work while he battled throat cancer. Now free of the disease, he revealed he was motivated to book a doctor’s appointment after a strong hug from Davina in August left him in excruciating pain.
This ultimately led to his diagnosis of stage 1 laryngeal cancer and saw him booked in for operations to remove lesions from his vocal chord.
“Can I be honest, when I hugged you that day here and you went, ‘ow ow ow’, I looked at you, and I thought, ‘oh my goodness, I’ve really, really hurt him.'” Davina admitted.
“You looked genuinely in agony, and I thought, ‘I’m sure I didn’t hug you that [hard]’, but I felt I carried that for a very long time.”
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Davina McCall became tearful during an appearance on Heart Radio (Image: Heart Radio)
Visibly emotional Davina, who recently underwent an operation to remove a benign tumour on her brain that affects three in a million people, began choking up as she continued: “And you, I’m sorry, getting better means so much to me.”
Jamie reassured her: “Without you doing that I would not have known there was something wrong with my throat. So in actual fact it wasn’t that you did any damage, it was the opposite.”
Jamie publicly announced He took to to share the news with his 73,000 followers.
“Hi folks, as you know I recently had an operation to remove my vocal chords,” he wrote. “The biopsy has identified this as Stage 1 Laryngeal cancer. So…I have cancer…but cancer doesn’t have me!
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Jamie Theakston reduced Davina McCall to tears when she appeared on Heart Radio (Image: Heart Radio)
“The prognosis is very positive and I’m hoping to be back with you in October. Until then, I’ve been told to give my voice a rest and leave you in the mostly capable hands of JK and Amanda.” He concluded with: “Be thankful for this day, and when I see you next, I’ll have a great story to tell…Jamie x.”
The presenter underwent three life-changing surgeries and was told there was “a one in six chance he might not be able to talk again”. However he revealed last week that he was free from the disease and would be back on the radio full-time.
As he returned to work Jamie addressed listeners saying: “Thanks to everyone for making this morning feel very, very special. Thanks for your (the listeners’) messages as well.
His co-host chimed in: “We are so happy to welcome him back!”
“Four months I have waited for this moment!” he said as Amanda quipped: “It feels longer it feels more like five months.”