Dave Myers has revealed that he could barely stomach “a can of soup” while undergoing chemotherapy, which caused him to lose his appetite.
The TV personality, who is one-half of the Hairy Bikers duo with Si King, described how “awful” it was to not want to eat while having treatment for cancer.
Myers, 65, spoke publicly about his cancer diagnosis in May last year and has had several rounds of chemotherapy.
In a new appearance on the podcast Seasoned, he told host Tommy Banks that his appetite became “dreadful” when he first started the treatment. The medication, which kills cancer cells, can be administered intravenously in hospital or via tablets at home.
Asked whether he had to change the way he ate due to his illness, Myers said: “It’s funny, when you first start chemotherapy… it’s quite hard. I’m still having it. It really was brutal, I lost so much weight and then it’s a battle to get your calories in.
“At first I thought, ‘Right, this is great, I can eat all those pies I haven’t been eating for years’, except the appetite was dreadful!” he explained.
“And for me, who’s a glutton, losing my appetite was awful. A can of soup was about as far as I could go, but then it slowly comes back. And now I’ve got to the point where I’m at the weight I want to be, and I want to maintain it.
“I am starting to think very carefully about what I put in. I have to cut down on not so much butter, because I’ve got the calories in now, eating a lot more pulses, and an awful lot more beans.”
During the episode, released on Wednesday (29 March), Myers announced that the Hairy Bikers are launching a new book on healthy eating in April, titled The Hairy Dieters’ Eat Well Every Day.
As he described the past year undergoing treatment as “pretty crappy”, he added: “I think it’s about eating for the immunity, your heart, for fibre. And as you get older, well, young as well, it’s important to eat well, but still have that knack of making food tasty so you don’t feel as though it’s a penance.”
Myers said he would go back to filming the show with King in May.
Earlier this month, the TV chef opened up about another way chemotherapy has affected his health.
Speaking on the How To Be 60 podcast, Myers said it impacted his ability to walk and he had to re-learn how to do so after multiple rounds of treatment.
“By God, the chemotherapy doesn’t half age you quickly. Because your balance goes, so for someone with a motorbike that’s a disaster, and my walking has been affected quite a lot, really,” he told host Kaye Adams.
“It’s a funny thing, chemotherapy, it’s one of life’s great levellers. It doesn’t matter if you’re on the telly or on the dole, if you get that then you’re in the s***.”
