James Whale has cancer of the brain, spine, kidney, and lungs
(Picture: PA)TalkTV and talkRADIO presenter James Whale has announced he is dying of terminal cancer, two years after first revealing his diagnosis.
The radio host revealed he has just months to live during a heartbreaking speech at the British Curry Awards in London on Monday.
Whale has cancer of the brain, spine, kidney, and lungs.
As reported by The Mirror, the 71-year-old said: “I know a lot of you won’t like me, but this time next year I won’t be here. I have terminal cancer.
“As you might be able to hear, I am having chemotherapy which makes it harder for me to breathe, but I’m OK. Don’t worry.
“I am in my 70s now and I just want to say don’t waste your time on stupid things that don’t matter. Twenty-five years later, I’ve got it [cancer] again. I’m 71 and I’ve had a great life.”
Whale provided his devastating health update as he remembered his friend Enam Ali, the founder of the British Curry Awards, who recently died of cancer.
“He was one of my best mates, he showed us that as communities we can all get on together. For that tonight I would like to give you a round of applause,” the broadcaster continued.
“When I’m on my TV or radio show, people might go: ‘Oh, he’s a bit controversial’. I just want people to live together and stop being so b****y stupid all the time.
“Because when you get to 70, some of you will know, you can look back at your life and think ‘maybe you could have done that differently’.”
Whale put on a brave face for the ceremony and posed for photos with his wife Nadine Talbot-Brown, whom he married last year.
Whale had a kidney removed in 2000 after doctors found a tumour.
Four years ago, his first wife Melinda died after a battle with lung cancer.
Whale, who appeared on the 18th series of Celebrity Big Brother in 2016, first gained notoriety hosting The James Whale Radio Show in Leeds in the 1980s.
From 1995 to 2008, he hosted a night-time radio show on talkSPORT, followed by stints on LBC 97.3 and various BBC radio stations.
Whale began covering shows on talkRADIO in October 2016. He started presenting the Monday to Thursday evening show the following month.
