Bill Turnbull: Staying Alive is due to air very soon, with former BBC presenter Bill taking us through a year in his life as he lives with cancer.
The documentary film follows the journalist over the course of a year as he, among other things, undergoes chemotherapy and tries medicinal cannabis in the wake of his diagnosis.
Turbull shared his prognosis with the public during a celebrity version of The Great British Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer, describing the moment he was diagnosed by doctors.
‘It’s like a dark cloud comes down, it’s a difficult moment,’ Turnbull said.
‘Those first few days were probably the worst days of my life. Horrible moment. That first moment is a real shell shock.’
What kind of cancer does Bill Turnbull have?
Bill, 63, is living with incurable prostate cancer.
The broadcaster revealed his cancer diagnosis in March 2018.
In an article for inews.co.uk on the subject, Bill wrote: ‘I knew that, as someone living with incurable advanced prostate cancer, things would occasionally become emotional. But almost from the moment we started filming, it seemed my tear ducts were on standby to spout at the least excuse.
‘Sitting with my wife on the sofa? Taps on. Reuniting with my old Breakfast partner Sian Williams? Gush. Somehow even talking about my kids rendered me speechless with emotion. I just couldn’t help it.’
The BBC alum added: ‘In the film, we do deal with some fairly heavy topics – indeed some of them are literally a matter of life and death. But as I have discovered over the past few months, there is something quite cathartic about blubbing; emotions that have built up inside you can be released and wash through you like a waterfall.
‘Letting them go is surprisingly comforting – holding them back can be poisonous.’
On Tuesday, Bill spoke on BBC Breakfast – the show he’d hosted from 2001 until 2016 – saying that he felt ‘remarkably cheerful and healthy’, and praising his family for helping him through this time.
‘I’m very lucky to have a truly wonderful family, and a remarkable wife,’ Bill said.
‘It has been very difficult, but if you have love in your life, and enough of it, it really does carry you through.
‘And I’ve been really blown away by people wishing me well – and all those things really count.’
He added: ‘I’m going to live for as long as I’m going to live for. Whatever happens, happens. I can help make myself better than great.’
Bill Turnbull: Staying Alive airs Thursday 24 October on Channel 4 at 10pm.
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