Broadcaster Chris Evans has revealed he has been diagnosed with skin cancer live on his Virgin Radio show on Monday.
The 57-year-old reassured listeners that it was found in the early stages and shared his hope that he will have a full recovery after undergoing treatment next month.
Speaking on The Chris Evans Breakfast Show, he said: “I’ve just got to talk briefly about my biopsy for the skin cancer issue.
“So, the best news that I got whilst I was away is that it was a positive test, so I have tested positive for skin cancer.
“Obviously better news would have been (that it was) negative. But the reason it’s great news is because they’ve caught it as early as they can, as early as is possible.”
The former BBC Radio 1 and 2 presenter told listeners that he got tested because his masseuse, whom he described as an “angel sent from Heaven”, encouraged him to go after she spotted an unusual looking freckle on his skin.
He added: “Because they caught it so early, it’s as treatable as cancer can possibly be to the extent that… some specialists refer to it as ‘stage zero’ or ‘pre-cancer’.”
Evans, who previously shared his prostate cancer scare in 2015, said the next step is for him to get “a square of skin taken off” on September 14.
The broadcaster added that he has thanked his masseuse for “potentially saving my life” and urged others to get any symptoms examined.
“Just check yourself for stuff, as you get older especially, on your skin, on your bits and your bobs,” he said.
“Just keep checking, because the biggest weapon in your arsenal, in our our collective arsenal against things that are out to get us is early detection. And so please do that.”
Evans, who is an avid runner, added that he won't be able to take part in the activity for a month after his treatment, and joked: “So I’m going to do nothing but run until then. Is that OK?”
The news comes four years after the radio legend previously experienced a cancer skin when he discovered unusual marks on his body in the lead-up to Christmas in 2019.
At the time, the UK had experience an extremely hot summer and Evans explained that the “high levels of UV” sparked concern over the markings.
That year, he said: “I went and had a few marks on my body inspected by a skin expert before Christmas and she said, ‘You need to come and see me again, just because of your complexion.’”
Following the cancer scare, Evans later shared that he had “nothing to worry about” although the skin expert advised him to get checked once a year.
Last month, Cancer Research UK said that melanoma skin cancer diagnoses across all age groups have reached a record high – with 17,500 people diagnosed each year in the UK.
Case rates among adults aged over 55 have risen by 195 per cent since the 1990s – between 1993 and 1995 21.3 people aged 55 and over were diagnosed with melanoma out of every 100,000, this rose to 62.9 cases per 100,000 in 2017-2019.
“The rise in rates in over-55s is likely to be linked to trends to have tanned skin and the cheap package holiday boom dating from the 1960s before people became more aware of skin cancer,” Cancer Research UK said.
The charity has estimated that across all age groups, melanoma skin cancer cases could increase by around 50% over the next 20 years, hitting a record 26,500 a year by 2040.
