Simon Jordan has revealed his prostate cancer diagnosis, and subsequent surgery, live on radio.
The former Crystal Palace owner and current football pundit had been absent from his popular White and Jordan show on talkSPORT for a number of weeks but returned on Tuesday morning to deliver the bombshell.
Broadcasting alongside Jim White, Jordan disclosed that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer some weeks prior after a blood test, following a chance conversation with a friend. He underwent surgery a couple of weeks ago and is still recovering but has vowed to help raise awareness of the disease among older men.
“I’ve been in the wars a little bit,” said Jordan upon his return to the airwaves. “And it might be appropriate to address that as there’s a moderately important message. I’m recovering from cancer, prostate cancer
“I had the surgery two weeks ago, it was quite substantial surgery, and has been quite debilitating, but as you can see I was able to come in today.
“I’m going to be recovering from it for quite some time. I’m going to take some time to get back into the thrust of things, whether that be business or media.”
Jordan went on to stress that he wasn’t looking for sympathy but believes it is a subject that should be addressed.
“The reasons why I bring it up is because I think it’s a very important subject,” he added. Not because I want to have a ‘Kumbaya’ moment and everyone sits and holds hands and feels sorry for me or everyone thinks I’m doing something commendable by talking about it.
“But because there’s a real issue. If someone hadn’t spoken to me about being tested, I had no symptoms of prostate cancer and had no reason to believe I had any particular challenges.
“Someone very close to me did have some challenges. I went off and had a very simple blood test that men of a certain age, and I don’t mean in their 50s or 60s, but from 30 upwards. A simple blood test in April or May drove me in a direction into the situation where I had quite significant surgery.”
Simon Jordan was candid about his cancer diagnosis— (talkSPORT)
The 55-year-old was also keen to point out that embarrassment shouldn’t be a limiting factor in men getting help.
“It’s an important message,” he continued. “I’m sitting here with six holes in my stomach, and weeing a bit of blood, but I’m sitting here.
“It’s one of those situations where if men don’t take it seriously – well people are losing lives over it. And it’s really really avoidable. What would you rather die of – embarrassment or this particular ordeal?”
After the announcement, Jordan went on to host the show in his typically combative style as he addressed sporting topics such as Harry Kane’s prospective move to Bayern Munich and the huge exodus of Premier League players to Saudi Arabia.
Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn also came into the studio to discuss Robert Helenius stepping in as a late replacement for Dillian Whyte to fight Anthony Joshua this weekend with Jordan and Hearn clashing over the topic in their usual manner.
