The TV presenter, famous for hosting Good Morning Britain, was diagnosed with the disease two years ago this year, but he says there has been an incredibly positive and emotional side to the scare
Nick Owen says “hundreds” of men have told him his cancer ordeal made them get themselves tested – with some saying the decision saved their lives.
It is two years this month since the TV news presenter was diagnosed with the “extensive and aggressive prostate cancer”. He didn’t have any symptoms but when a blood test in April 2023 showed slightly elevated prostrate-specific antigen (PSA) results, his GP insisted he saw a specialist. That led to diagnosis and surgery.
Nick’s decision to go public about his diagnosis led to greater awareness of the disease and a surge in men getting tests. A record 55,033 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2023, with a 25% rise in cases between 2019 and 2023.
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The presenter, 77, remembers: “It was possibly the worst day of my life. But I’m still thriving, I’m still grateful. I’m feeling pretty well and glad to be where I am now. Hopefully I’m cancer free. I’m a lucky boy. ”
He says he is constantly hearing from men who credit his honesty about his own condition with encouraging them to get tested and, in turn, with catching their cancer early enough to treat it. “Every week someone is writing to me to say hearing my story made them get a PSA test, they were diagnosed and having the operation,” he says.
“I was in our village this week and a man came up to thank me. He had a PSA test as a result of the publicity, was diagnosed with prostate cancer and had the operation seven weeks ago. Like me, he had no symptoms. It’s constant. It’s happened hundreds of times. It’s breathtaking and emotional. I’m glad some good has come out of this. It’s vital that people get tested. ”
Nick came to national prominence in 1983 as one of the first faces to appear on breakfast television in Britain. Famous for his cringe-worthy puns, he is widely believed to be the inspiration for Steve Coogan’s spoof chat show presenter, Alan Partridge.
He co-hosted Good Morning Britain on TV-am with Anne and Nick with Anne Diamond, who also revealed she had been diagnosed with breast cancer two months after Nick’s diagnosis.
“Anne has been through a terrible time as well,” he says. “We have text conversations every now and then. We had the primary cancers for men and women at the same time. She is doing OK now. She’s back on television twice a week. ”
Nick, who was celebrating 50 years in broadcasting that same year, took time off work following his surgery and returned to presenting Midlands Today, where he has hosted since 1997, in October.
He says: “I still work two days a week, I’m slowing down. I’m 78 this year, I must be the oldest TV presenter! I love talking to people and being involved in the news room banter. I am the arch mickey taker and would miss that. I love the people I work with. ”
Looking back on his career Nick, who has four children and three grandchildren with first wife Jill and has been married to wife Vicki for five years, says that interviewing comedy legend Eric Morecambe was his standout moment.
Eric was a director at Luton Town FC, where lifelong fan Nick was chairman between 2008 and 2017. He says: “I used to see him in the director’s box at Luton Town FC when I was on the terraces and ended up getting to know him.
“Comedians are often quite low key when they are not performing. They are just normal people doing a job. Eric was a funny man. I asked him once: ‘You have three children? ’ and he answered: ‘I think so, I left early this morning. ’ He always had an answer.
And he says he still keeps in touch with another co-star from his TV-am days, Roland Rat. “I still speak to him now – or rather the guy behind him. He lives in the States now,” he says.
“I remember an awards ceremony for children’s achievements. I was chatting to a young boy with Margaret Thatcher next to me and the boy pointed at me and said ‘It’s Roland Rat’s daddy! ’ I don’t think Margaret Thatcher knew who he meant, but he had obviously seen us together on television.
“He was a bit rebellious and cheeky and it was great fun talking to a puppet. I was sitting on the sofa talking to a lump of cloth and the person who was working him was at my feet. Great memories. ”
