Chris Evans says he is cancer free after being given the all-clear by doctors, eight weeks after being diagnosed with the condition.
The broadcaster, 57, told Virgin Radio show listeners last month that he had been diagnosed with skin cancer, but has since confirmed a positive result after having malignant growths removed from his body.
Discussing an email he received concerning the procedure, he said: ‘I didn’t sleep, hardly at all last night… two or three hours.
‘A good night, I’ll get six, four or five and because I wake up every 90 minutes for my circadian rhythm, and I surrender to that now, actually I look forward to going back to sleep three times a night because that’s where I live.
‘But I never thought for a second you could lose a night’s sleep because of an email like this.’
Wonderful news: Chris Evans says he is cancer free after being given the all-clear by doctors, eight weeks after being diagnosed with the condition
Virgin Radio co-host Vassos Alexander was subsequently handed the letter, which read: ‘I have forwarded the pathology report. It is excellent news. There is no residual disease. You have the all-clear.’
Evans added: ‘I had a phone conversation with my dermatologist, and she told me that, obviously, the freckle that had moved, metastasised, was malignant, because the biopsy had come back, and that I would need treatment, and would have to have it removed. So we did, and that was last Thursday.’
‘And so, at quarter-to-four last Thursday, I had cancer and at quarter-to-five, I didn’t. And I just found that out last night. And that’s because time is your biggest weapon against it, if you have an abundance of it, and its biggest weapon against you if you have a lack of it.’
Urging listeners to remain vigilant for any potential signs of cancer, he said: ‘If you’re worried about anything, just bear in mind the fact that eight weeks ago I was diagnosed with cancer and now I don’t have it at all. At all. And that’s why you just need to attend to things.’
Evans previously had a skin cancer scare in 2020 after being tested for the disease due to discovering marks on his body before Christmas. Prior to that, he was given the ‘all clear’ following a prostate cancer scare in 2015.
The former Big Breakfast and Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush host recently shared an update with fans, revealing the growth has been removed. He took to Instagram to show how just a small scar remains in its place.
In an accompanying caption, Evans, who revealed he went teetotal with his wife Natasha in August, wrote he was celebrating the news with a curry and 0.0% beer.
He told followers: ‘And that’s a W.R.A.P. Early cuzza to celebrate + 0.0 VERY cold beer. #getyourselfchecked/checkafriend Peace&Love people. HAPPY THURSDAY.’
Update: Evans recently gave fans a health update after being diagnosed with skin cancer
Removed! The broadcaster announced on his Virgin Radio show last month that he had been diagnosed with skin cancer eight years after being given the all-clear
Eight years ago he was given the all-clear following a prostate cancer scare.
But the fear of the disease remained at the forefront of his mind after losing his dad and two uncles to colon cancer and his late mum had breast cancer.
He said last month: ‘For years I was such a scaredy cat but I’ve had things taken out of me before that had resulted in the deaths of my dad, his two brothers and my mum.
‘Cancer has had enough of us. I changed my thinking a while ago when I went to the toilet and there was clearly something very wrong.
‘And up until that moment I was fearful of any possible test you could have done.
‘For some reason this happened and it was so patently obvious. I finished what I was doing and phoned my GP straight away and it was like an epiphany. I was like, ‘Yes, I’ll get checked. I now get checked too often for a couple of things, my doctor says.’
Evans announced on his Virgin Radio show that doctors diagnosed him with skin cancer after his masseuse – who he branded an ‘angel sent from heaven’, spotted a suspicious looking freckle and urged him to have it checked out.
Before: And after finding a malignant growth on his leg, Evans shared an update with fans, revealing the growth has been removed
Relief: The star had a skin cancer scare in 2020 after being tested for the disease due to discovering marks on his body before Christmas
Evans told listeners it was found in the extremely early stages, adding that doctors have said it is at ‘stage zero’ and is ‘as treatable as cancer can possibly be’. He will undergo treatment next month.
He said: ‘I’ve just got to talk briefly about… you know my biopsy for the skin cancer issue. So, the best news that I got whilst I was away, was that it was a positive test. So I have tested positive for skin cancer.
‘Obviously better news would have been that it would have been negative. But the reason it’s great news is that they’ve caught it as early as possible.
‘This has only happened because Dee, this angel sent from heaven, who gives me this massage every Friday, saw this freckle on my shin and said, “do me a favour Chris, go and get that checked out”.’
‘I didn’t and then the next week, she said: “Have you been to see anyone because you just need to go. It’s probably nothing but you need to go. That doesn’t look like a normal freckle to me”.’
He continued: ‘Anyway, I went and got it tested. I ended up having an operation. So whilst we were away, the email came through and the email was “can you please call because we need to discuss your results as opposed to just all-clear”. So I was sort of ready for something.
‘But because they caught it so early, it is as treatable as cancer can possibly be, to the extent that they caught it stage zero.’
He added: ‘It is a melanoma. There’s this phrase called a malignant melanoma – you know, once you get something and you find out all about it – that is a redundant phrase because if it is a melanoma it is malignant.
‘But it’s been caught so early, just so you know, that it should be completely treatable. [Treatment] will happen on September 14.’
Evans, a keen running enthusiast, joked: ‘I can’t run for a month afterwards so I’m going to do nothing but run until then. Is that OK?’
Family man: Evans has three sons and one daughter with professional golfer and part-time model Natasha, 38
Difficult: Fear of the disease remained at the forefront of his mind after losing his dad and two uncles to colon cancer and his late mum had breast cancer
There are three types of skin cancer: melanoma, basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma. While melanoma only makes up 1 per cent of cases, it causes a vast majority of deaths.
If caught early, the cancer is relatively harmless and can quickly be removed.
Evans previously had a skin cancer scare and was tested for the disease after discovering concerning marks on his body before Christmas.
At the time, he said: ‘I went and had a few marks on my body inspected by a skin expert before Christmas and she said, “You need to come and see me again, just because of your complexion”.’
He added that an expert told him he had ‘nothing to worry about’ but said she advised him to get checked once a year.
The presenter went on to say: ‘I’ve got a particularly big freckle on the back of my hand at the moment.’
In summer 2015, Evans received the all-clear after undergoing tests for prostate cancer.
A source to the Sunday Mirror: ‘Chris is fit as a fiddle and his problems are behind him.’
Evans told his Breakfast show at the time: ‘Thank you once again to Kenney Jones, of The Who, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer a couple of years ago and since recovery has been a fundraiser and supporter of Prostate Cancer UK.
‘Prostate cancer, and colon cancer of course, are one of the most survivable forms of cancer there is, if caught early enough. It not, one of the least. It’s a fine line between life and death, happiness and tragedy.
‘And I’ve got to say I’m in the middle of a prostate issue right now! I couldn’t stop. I have not been able to stop since Christmas – peeing – or wanting to go. So I’ve gone to the doctor.
‘I’ve done all the internet stuff that you shouldn’t do, I’ve gone on the internet, scared myself half to death, then gone to see the doctor. And we really should do it the other way round. However I’m in the middle of the tests.’
He continued: ‘I’ve completely changed my tune on this over the last couple of years. So there you go.
Fame and fortune: Evans became a household name thanks to his wild lifestyle and TV show, TFI Friday – pictured with Billie Piper in the 2000s who he later married and divorced
‘If you are worried about anything just go and sort yourself out – if not for you, for your family.’
In 2011, Evans discussed undergoing his first colonoscopy examination because of the history of cancer in his family.
His father died of colorectal cancer and his mother was a breast cancer survivor.
He told the Daily Mail: ‘I went for this routine check and they found some nasties up there, and they removed them.
‘They were pre-cancerous, not malignant – at least we don’t think so; they’ve been sent for a biopsy.
‘The doctor said the only thing I could have done wrong was not come to see him.’
Skin cancer cases in the UK are on the rise, and it is currently the fifth most common cancer in the UK, with about 16,200 new cases each year.
Hugh Jackman, Khloe Kardashian, Molly Mae Hague, Andy Cohen, Caitlyn Jenner, Diane Keaton and Ewan McGregor have all sought treatment for skin cancer.
