Veteran BBC presenter Bill Turnbull reveals he has prostate cancer

'My life as I knew it is in the past tense. You have BC, Before Cancer, when you had a normal life and then there’s After Cancer when things are very different'

The broadcaster said he hoped to encourage more men to visit their GP if they felt unwell (BBC)

The veteran BBC presenter Bill Turnbull has revealed he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

The 62-year-old, who was an anchor on BBC Breakfast from 2001 until 2016, said the disease was discovered in November and that it had spread to his legs, hips, pelvis and ribs.

Turnbull said he was diagnosed with the disease after experiencing aches and pains he had simply attributed to “old age”.

The presenter, who now hosts a show on radio station Classic FM, said he wanted his announcement to encourage others to get tested.

“Maybe if I’d got it earlier and stopped it at the prostate, I’d be in a much better state,” he told the Radio Times.

The father of three added: “If one man gets tested who might not otherwise have gone to their doctor, it’s worthwhile.”

Turnbull, who also presents Songs of Praise and the Think Tank game show, said he had had prostate tests at the age of 40 and then again at 50.

He was interviewed by Sian Williams, his former colleague on the BBC Breakfast sofa, who underwent a double mastectomy for breast cancer in 2014.

Turnbull told her he was angry with himself for being proud of the fact he did not visit a GP in four years. He said he only pursued help when his discomfort could no longer be eased with pills.

Describing the “deep shock” he endured after being diagnosed, he said the following days were “probably the worst days of my life”.

Turnbull added: “The GP said, ‘It’s clear you have prostate cancer and that it’s spread to the bone’. And all of a sudden you’re in this dark chasm.”

The broadcaster, who said he now cannot plan beyond 12 years, said it upset him that he was not going to be around with his wife and family as much as he had presumed.

“The worst thing is, you carry it through the day and then you go to bed at night and wake up in the morning and it comes to you again,” he said. “I have got cancer. I’ve still got cancer. It wasn’t a bad dream. And that takes a lot of dealing with.”

He explained that it had totally changed his life, saying: “My life, as I knew it, is in the past tense. You have BC, Before Cancer, when you had a normal life, and then there’s After Cancer, when things are very different.”

He said he was diagnosed with the illness while recording an episode of The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer on Channel 4.

Turnbull announced his departure from BBC Breakfast in September 2015, revealing he would be leaving to spend more time with his family and pursue his hobby of beekeeping.

After 15-years on the sofa, he said goodbye the following year, holding back tears on his final episode as he thanked the nation for letting him into their homes every morning.