Nick Owen reveals return to TV after having prostrate removed and bumpy ride amid cancer battle
TV presenter Nick Owen has revealed he’s had his prostate removed following his shock cancer diagnosis.
The 75-year-old plans to return to present Midlands Today in the autumn after a recent absence from BBC One news programme while he recovers.
The broadcaster revealed the news today on Midlands Today, which he has presented for 25 years.
Nick decided to have a radical prostatectomy, which involves removing the whole prostate gland, after speaking to specialists.
He told how the surgery had been successful, but described it was a “pretty bumpy ride” after and said his wife Vicki took the strain.
Nick married Vicki Beevers in July 2020, having previously been married to Jill Lavery, with whom he has four children.
“She had to do a lot of things medically when I came home, to look after me, including having to give me an injection once a day for about a month – and she’s got no experience of that, I’ve certainly got no experience of doing [it] myself or having it done by a non medical professional,” he explained.
“So that was one of the many ingredients [which] made it a tough time.
“Although I’m not exactly myself at the moment, I do feel a lot more like it,”
Describing the discover of his cancer as the “worst day of his life”, the former TV-AM presenter said: “I went to a specialist, he wasn’t too worried because my figures weren’t that high.
“But he decided I ought to have a scan, and then the scan said there’s something dodgy going on, and then he sent me for a biopsy, which he did.
“And the results of that were the killer – on April the 13th, a date (which) will forever be imprinted on my mind.
“He told us that it was extensive, really, and aggressive, and I had prostate cancer full-on, and something needed to be done pretty fast.
“And that was probably the worst day of my life, or certainly one of them.
“It was a very grim moment… driving home after that sort of news and ringing people, texting people, my phone went crazy for hours on end.
“And it was a very, very difficult time for me, and indeed for my wife Vicki, who was by my side all the time through this, you know. It was grim.”
The former chairman of Luton Town Football Club is also known for his broadcasting collaboration with journalist Anne Diamond – along with their stint on TV-am, they had their own current affairs morning programme on the BBC in the 1990s, Good Morning With Anne And Nick.
Anne, now a GB News presenter, announced in June that she has been diagnosed with breast cancer.
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 dearly in recent weeks.
“We can’t wait to welcome him back to the studio as soon as he’s ready. We all wish him a speedy recovery.”
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK – one in eight men will get prostate cancer at some point in their lives and more than 52,000 new cases are diagnosed every year.
According to the NHS, it mainly affects men over 50 and the risk increases with age. It is more common in black men or men with a family history of prostate cancer.
What is prostate cancer and what are the signs you need to know?
One in eight Brit blokes will get prostate cancer in their lifetime.
Many will live long lives and not experience too many nasty symptoms.
But in others, their cancer will spread, which is when the disease can turn deadly.
Prostate cancer currently kills 10,900 men-a-year, but Prostate Cancer UK warn that this number could surge to 15,000-a-year by 2026.
What are the symptoms?
In most cases, prostate cancer doesn’t have any symptoms until the growth is big enough to put pressure on the urethra – that tube you pee through.
- Needing to urinate more often, especially at night
- Needing to rush to the toilet
- Difficulty in starting to pee
- Weak flow
- Straining and taking a long time while peeing
- Feeling that your bladder hasn’t emptied fully