John Partridge has opened up about his secret battle with cancer on Tuesday's Loose Women, having first spoken out about his ordeal earlier in the year on Good Morning Britain. In a clip from the show in March, John bravely revealed that back in 2005 he had been diagnosed with testicular cancer, and broke down in tears as he said: "I haven’t told anyone before, but I had cancer." Talking to panellists Kaye Adams, Stacey Solomon, Anne Diamond and Janet Street-Porter, John – who took part in The Real Full Monty - opened up about how he felt after telling his fellow celebrity contestants. "I found an enormous sense of comfort and comradery with those men and that is something I never anticipated," he said.
The actor – best known for playing Christian Clarke in EastEnders - also relived the moment he was diagnosed while in a German hospital. "I had a hernia operation, as I have danced all my whole life," he said. "I was told I can't have sexual activity for six weeks. But I disobeyed my doctor and it saved my life. There was complication with the surgery which took me back to hospital where they found my tumour," he said. The star had previously revealed on GMB that he didn’t tell people about it because he felt "ashamed" and "embarrassed".
John Partridge battled cancer in 2005
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While on the show, John also revealed that he was "217 days sober" and that he felt "great". "I am re-born, it feels like that," he said. The actor admitted that he had previously tried to give up alcohol in the past, but after his mother died he became more focused. "The day I decided to go sober, for some reason on that day I allowed myself to feel…and that tiny bit of space.. I felt that little boy inside of me with all that dream and wonder..and I allowed him to flood me," he told the audience and viewers at home. John also said that it had been surprisingly easy for him: "I would love to sit here and say it was a real struggle, but I want to do everything I did before, just sober," he said.
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