Viewers have praised Jake Quickenden after he underwent a testicular examination live on air. The former X Factor contestant, 34, appeared during an all-male takeover of Loose Women to have the test.
Joining Vernon Kay, Larry Lamb, Olly Murs and Ade Adepitan wearing a white dressing gown, he spoke about how both his brother and father died from cancer. Quickenden’s brother Oliver was 19 when he lost his life to bone cancer in 2012, the same disease that killed his father four years earlier.
Admitting her rarely checks his testicles, he told the panel: “I lost my dad and brother to cancer, so for me not checking is a way of just putting it to the back of my mind and not worrying about it. Sometimes I think if I checked and I felt something I’d be so worried it would eat away at me, so for me it was out of sight, out of mind – just don’t bother checking.”
Quickenden became a father in 2021, welcoming a baby boy with his wife Sophie Church. He said losing his brother and father made him “even worse” at checking.
He continued: “But as I’ve got older, I’ve got kids now, it makes me think that is just a stupid thing to do. We need to be talking more, we need to be checking more, we need to be making sure we are as men having that conversation and going, ‘Do you know what, have you checked your nads today?’”
Telling the panel that he had his first full body check up six months ago, he added: “That was a big step for me to even do because I was so nervous. An MRI, everything checked, bloods checked, and I felt quite proud and I put it out there.”
Quickenden received a wave of positive comments on social media with many praising him for raising awareness. On Twitter, Diana Osman said: "Amazing show today guys, well done @JakeQuickenden for being so brave."
Thomas Charlton wrote: "Well done Jake, it's not easy to do that."
Jo Good added: "Wow @JakeQuickenden that was an amazing and brave thing you done on @loosewomen today. I am sure it will help many people and certainly raise the awareness needed. You should be very proud of yourself."
