Nick Owen says he struggled to tell his children about his cancer diagnosis, but admits it was necessary for his immediate family to be ‘in on it’.
The former TV-am host, 76, confirmed he was battling ‘extensive’ and ‘aggressive’ prostate cancer in August, and has since been successfully treated.
And he admits his first decision was to tell his four grown children, two of them boys, so they could be aware of the potentially hereditary disease and its warning signs.
He told the Deadly Silent Podcast: ‘I’ve been in the middle of it. And I realized that the sooner you are seen, the better.
‘We had an MRI that was a hint that something was going on. Then I had a biopsy. And that would tell us that it was really nasty and aggressive. And we have to do something fast.
Nick Owen says he struggled to tell his children about his cancer diagnosis, but admits it was necessary for his immediate family to be “in on it”
He admits his first decision was to tell his four grown children, two of them boys, so they could be aware of the potentially hereditary disease and its warning signs
‘It was hard to tell my children. I have four children, three are our boys, two in their forties and one in their late thirties and it was quite emotional.’
He added: ‘Also as far as the boys (Andy, Tim and Chris) are concerned, it’s a warning because it can be a hereditary thing.
‘I am very keen on my boys being extremely focused on the matter. I want to work on them going earlier than 50, to be honest, to get the PSA tests. And the message has to be, if you have a hint of a concern, get someone to look at it.’
Owen received his diagnosis just weeks after his former TV am host Anne Diamond, 68, revealed she is battling breast cancer and has undergone a mastectomy.
Along with their stint on TV-am, the pair had their own current affairs morning show on the BBC in the 1990s, Good Morning With Anne And Nick.
Speaking about the debilitating impact the condition has had on his life, he told BBC One’s Midlands Today: BBC One’s Midlands Today: ‘I went to a specialist, he wasn’t too concerned because my numbers weren’t that high.
“But he decided I needed a scan and then the scan said there was something suspicious going on and so he sent me for a biopsy, which he did.
‘And the results of that were the killer – April 13, a date (which) will forever be etched in my mind.
Owen received his diagnosis just weeks after his former TV am host Anne Diamond revealed she is battling breast cancer and has undergone a mastectomy
The former breakfast TV host with wife Vicki Beevers, whom he married in July 2020
Along with their stint on TV-am, Owen and Diamond had their own current affairs morning show on the BBC in the 1990s, Good Morning With Anne And Nick
‘He told us it was extensive, real and aggressive and I had full blown prostate cancer and something needed to be done quite quickly.
“And that was probably the worst day of my life, or certainly one of them.”
He added: ‘It was a very somber moment… driving home after that kind of news and calling people, texting people, my phone going crazy for hours.
‘And it was a very, very difficult time for me, and actually for my wife Vicki, who was by my side the whole time through this, you know.’
Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer in men in the UK. One in eight men will develop prostate cancer at some point in their lives, and more than 52,000 new cases are diagnosed each year.
A BBC spokesman said: ‘Nick has been one of the faces of Midlands Today for more than 25 years. Our viewers and his colleagues have missed him greatly in recent weeks.
Owen married Vicki Beevers in July 2020, having previously been married to Jill Lavery, with whom he has four children.
Nick Owen is working with GenesisCare to launch the brand new Deadly Silent Podcast. For more information about prostate cancer symptoms and treatment options visit www.genesiscare.com/uk.
