TalkTV host James Whale reveals he only has weeks to live in devastating health update – UK Times

TalkTV presenter James Whale gave viewers a heartbreaking update as he revealed he now has only weeks to live.

The 74-year-old broadcaster and talkRADIO host has been living with stage four kidney cancer since he was diagnosed in 2020.

He told listeners in May that he had stopped treatment and was “at the end of [his] cancer journey”, later revealing that the disease had spread to his spine, brain and lungs. Whale said he would be “lucky to make it to Christmas”.

Speaking on his show James Whale Unleashed, he said: “I’m actually in my last couple of weeks. Last time I saw my oncologist, he said I probably have only got weeks to go.

“Talk are being absolutely brilliant. But if you hear a thump during the programme it may have been my last breath, I don’t know. I hope it isn’t. I thought I’d throw that in so you can feel remarkably sorry for me and not shout at me.”

He added: “Over the 50 years, I have interviewed and chatted to some of the most amazing people. It may have been you. Maybe we’ll catch up for the last time.”

Asked by one viewer how he is spending the limited time he has left, Whale replied: “I spend a lot of time crying. And it really, it’s a bit embarrassing, Paula, to be quite honest with you.

“I’m heading into the sunset and I talk about it regularly on the show and you know it’s interesting because now everybody talks about it. Not me, not mine, but their own, you know, they don’t feel that they’re doing it quite right without having a cancer to talk about.”

The broadcaster and talk show host has been a popular voice on radio and TV for five decades and currently presents a weekly nighttime talk show on talkRADIO.

He was awarded an MBE for his services to broadcasting and charity in the 2024 New Year Honours List.

Whale was first diagnosed with cancer in 2000, and underwent surgery to remove one of his kidneys. In 2018, his first wife, Melinda Maxted, died after being diagnosed with lung cancer.