Bill Turnbull has sadly passed away at the age of 66 after being diagnosed with prostate cancer five years ago, but before his death he was outspoken about his experience with the illness. The BBC Breakfast host 'died peacefully at his home in Suffolk surrounded by his family on Wednesday, 31st August', his family recently confirmed.
He was diagnosed with cancer in 2017 and was cared for at the Royal Marsden and Ipswich Hospitals, St Elizabeth Hospice and his GP. Before his tragic death, the host opened up about his 'bumpy' journey and how he wasn't going to 'let it win'. In a former interview, in 2019, he said that he had taken to yelling at his cancer - and would go to the end of his garden to vent.
In an interview with the Express Saturday magazine, Bill shared his unique way of letting out his emotions.
He said: "Sometimes I go down to the bottom of the garden at night and shout at my cancer. I tell it to get stuffed - though usually with much stronger language than that."
Bill also said how a documentary about the illness was a very emotional project for him.
"It's very emotional and a bit of a blubathon," he said, "I'm a bit embarrassed because you see me crying so much. I do have days where I weep quite a lot, partly because I'm on a hormone treatment which makes me spill over, but I do believe that crying is a very important thing to do when under this kind of stress."
In the documentary, titled Bill Turnbull: Staying Alive, viewers got to see his journey going through nine rounds of chemotherapy as well as experimenting with medicinal cannabis.
"The chemo wasn't pretty, but was fairly effective," he said. "Since then I have felt a lot better as time has gone on. My immune system has improved and my body is more back to 'normal'."
He even adopted a healthy lifestyle by going meat and dairy-free, doing yoga, meditating and looking after his mental health.
"It's hugely important to stay positive – that's part of the treatment really. You can't let this disease get on top of you because psychology has a lot to do with it," he explained at the time.
"One thing I'm not going to let it do is get me down because then it wins. And I'm not going to let it win."
He announced back in 2019 that his cancer had spread to his bones, but that he still had a "fair old time to live".
"It's a great consolation to me to know that while my disease is advanced, many men have been saved a lot of difficulty by getting an earlier diagnosis," Bill added.
The presenter revealed his prostate cancer diagnosis in March 2018, saying he was diagnosed the previous November, and he detailed his treatment in the Channel 4 documentary.
In October last year, he announced he was taking a leave of absence from his show on Classic FM for health reasons.
Announcing the news on social media, Turnbull said he was taking "a leave of absence" from his weekend programme, which he had fronted for five years.
His family announced his death in a heartfelt statement released on September 1.
