Jeremy Clarkson’s partner says his decision to publicly discuss his prostate cancer diagnosis has helped thousands of people.
The 66-year-old broadcaster is in remission after revealing on the latest series of Clarkson’s Farm that he had been diagnosed with "aggressive" prostate cancer. To treat the illness, he selected high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), a minimally invasive medical procedure that uses high-frequency soundwaves to heat and destroy targeted cancer cells.
Lisa Hogan, his partner of nine years, explained that he was initially hesitant to reveal his diagnosis to viewers.
She told the Daily Star Sunday: "I’m really happy he caught his prostate cancer early and I’m really proud of him for putting it on the show, because that was a really big decision.
"When I was filming him in hospital at first, he said, ‘Please don’t’. It was (producer) Andy Wilman who convinced him to do it, to help everybody else. When the show came out, Prostate Cancer UK had 30,000 people going on to their website in one day."
Ms Hogan noted that opening up to friends also assisted him emotionally.
"Yes, of course it was a terrible worry," she added. "But what I did encourage him to do was to talk to his friends.
"He didn’t want to initially, but he’s got lots of friends who’ve been through the same thing and he’s been talking to them about it. I think that’s really helped."
Clarkson revealed in June that he is in remission.
The cancer diagnosis came almost two years after Clarkson underwent a heart procedure, which saw him fitted with two stents to improve blood flow. For a brief spell, he replaced work with golf – upon the orders of his doctor – and also quit smoking after getting pneumonia while on holiday in Spain.
Clarkson previously said in a video that the news of his cancer diagnosis "landed harder than I thought it would," and he urged the public to “please, please, please go and get checked”.
“It’s not uncomfortable, it’s not undignified, and it’s a no-brainer. I did, and that’s why I’m sitting here talking to you 11 months down the line,” he continued.
Elsewhere, Clarkson recently took home the reality docuseries prize at the National Television Awards on Tuesday night for his Prime Video series about running his Diddly Squat farm.
The show won for best factual entertainment series at last year’s awards.
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