Jake Quickenden has been hailed as brave after having his testicles examined live on Loose Men today in the hope it could save lives.
The former X Factor and I'm A Celeb star, 34, lost both his father and brother to bone cancer and previously appeared on The Real Full Monty in 2020 to raise awareness of the disease.
Speaking to panellists Vernon Kay, Olly Murs, Ade Adepitan and Larry Lamb, he said: "The reason I'm doing this is if this helps one person, that's all that matters."
Dr Amir Khan was welcomed onto the show as he explained that the reason why most men don't have their testicles examined was embarrassment.
"The first thing is always embarrassment," he said. "They always apologise and say that they're sorry for coming in."
Dr Amir went on to praise Jake for being "incredibly brave" as he took apart his white gown and had his testicles examined.
As he had a feel of his testicles, Dr Amir explained that he was looking for discolouration, swelling, changes in size or any hard lumps as he gently rolled each testicle between his thumb and finger.
Fans took to Twitter to praise Jake for having the exam, with one tweeting: "Well done @JakeQuickenden super proud of you raising awareness for testicular cancer live on @loosewomen #loosemen your so brave Jake @DrAmirKhanGP #Movember #itv."
Jake's father Paul died in 2008 and two years later his brother Oliver was diagnosed with osteosarcoma and in 2012 he sadly lost his battle with the disease.
Just a year later, Jake suffered his own scare after finding a lump on his leg and quickly checked it out.
Speaking to the Mirror in 2015, he said: "I think going through a loss makes you twice as paranoid as you usually are. I am a bit of a hypochondriac anyway – my mum says I always think I’m poorly.
"But after losing Oliver, it became more important to get it checked out."
His mum booked him with his GP and he was sent to the hospital for a biopsy. Thankfully, it turned out to just be gristle and was an old footballing injury.
He continued: "My dad was always a really fit and active guy, but one night we had gone to the cinema and all of a sudden he felt really ill. He had to go home, telling us he thought he was coming down with flu.
"For the next month or so Dad felt ill every night with flu-like symptoms, shaking and sweating. But Dad being Dad was too stubborn to go to the doctor’s, and kept saying he would be fine.
"When he eventually did go to the doctor’s, they ran some tests and he was diagnosed with myeloma, cancer of the bone marrow. Unfortunately, it was pretty much terminal."
Jake added: "As a family, it was tough to have those things happen, but cancer is everywhere and so many families are affected by it. You have just got to continue to live your life to the fullest."
*Loose Women airs weekdays at 12.30pm on ITV
