Noel Edmonds has stood by his beliefs that cancer may be caused negative energy. The 67-year-old made an appearance on This Morning on Wednesday morning, during which he said he believed a stressful period in his life led to him being diagnosed with prostate cancer in November 2013.
The Deal or No Deal host sparked a backlash at the weekend when he claimed a £2,000 medical device "tackles cancer". When a Twitter user with kidney cancer accused Noel of "quackery", he replied: "Is it possible your ill health is caused by your negative attitude?"
Noel Edmonds has stood by his claims that "negative energy" can lead to cancer
Defending his choice of words to hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, Noel said: "All I did was ask the person you're referring to a question – I've never said negative thinking causes cancer… but I want to be really positive."
Noel added that his own experience with prostate cancer has shaped his view that it can be caused by "disruption of our immune system by negative energy", and may benefit from "pulsed electromagnetism".
The television presenter opened up about his cancer diagnosis, which coincided with the birthday of his father, who had died from the same disease in 1990.
Noel said his prostate cancer was caused by a stressful period in his life
"Anyone that gets that kind of diagnosis knows that that is an emotional moment and you go one of two ways, you either decide you’re going to focus on living your life, or you resign yourself to living your death," Noel said. "I went down the route of finding out as much information as I could, and this is what I’m talking about. The man you referred to, I asked a question of him…"
When statements were read out by experts claiming a theory of negative attitude wasn't true, Noel replied: "I was, what I thought, very, very healthy. I know why I got my cancer because I'd got through a very stressful, very negative period in my life."
"So the stress in your life gave you prostate cancer?" Phillip asked.
Noel stood by his statement, replying: "Yes. Because stress is negative energy - the definition of stress is the breakdown of your body's engineering system. I'm absolutely certain that it didn't just decide to manifest itself, there was a cause."
While Noel's controversial statements have received a mixed response on social media, it appears he was happy by how the television appearance went, judging by a tweet he sent after the show. "Overwhelmed by the kind words and even apologies from so many #gratitude," Noel wrote.