Mark Radcliffe has admitted he worried about the effect of his recent cancer treatment on his radio career as he opened up about a time he said was “pretty miserable”.
The BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music DJ returned to the airwaves in February after a four-month break for treatment for head and neck cancer, involving surgery, a six-week course of radiotherapy and two rounds of chemotherapy.
He had surprised listeners back in October by revealing his diagnosis on air and saying he would be “disappearing for a while”.
He is now in remission but told The Mirror that the experience had left him “emotionally unstable”.
He said: “It coincided with Christmas being over and January is a cold, dark, miserable time of year anyway, so for me that was the toughest part.
“I dropped into Maggie’s Centre at The Christie [which offers emotional support to people with cancer] and when I sat down the counsellor said, ‘So how are you doing?’ and I just burst into tears, which is unlike me.
“She asked, ‘Have you just finished treatment?’, and said mine was a familiar scenario.