Radio DJ James Whale has revealed he seriously considered euthanasia after finding out he has terminal cancer.
The TalkTV and talkRADIO presenter announced he has just months to live in a heartbreaking speech at the end of last year.
“This time next year I won’t be here,” he told a shocked audience at an awards ceremony just before Christmas.
The 71-year-old radio star was first diagnosed with cancer in 2000 when he had a kidney removed.
He survived, but in 2020 the cancer returned attacking his remaining kidney and has since spread to his lungs, spine and brain.
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Speaking in more detail about his most recent diagnosis, James told The Express he was all set to go to assisted dying clinic Dignitas in Switzerland to take his own life.
He said: “I am terminally ill. It would have been easier all round. I’m not scared of dying... the reason I wanted to go to Dignitas was because I was thinking of others, not me.”
But James decided not to go through with it so he could spend more time with his wife Nadine, who he married in a fairytale wedding in October 2021.
In the joint interview with Nadine, who James met in his local pub in the Kent village they both live in, he says he is “glad” he stuck around because they’ve had “two great years together”.
The pair share bereavement in common as James lost his first wife Melinda in 2018, while Nadine, 57, lost her husband. Both died from cancer.
Since then the couple have gone on to make happy memories together, enjoying holidays to Antigua and Cornwall.
And James already knows what he wants for his last wish when the time comes.
“I want to be buried in the churchyard at the top of the hill. It’s a great view,” he said.
The first so-called ‘shock jock’ radio DJ known for his argumentative style of presenting, James began making waves in the industry in the 1980s.
He worked for Radio Aire in Leeds before joining LBC and TalkRadio in the 1990s and in 2016 he appeared in Celebrity Big Brother.
But the presenter is no stranger to controversy, having been sacked by TalkRadio in 2008 for urging people to vote for Boris Johnson to be mayor.
His illness recently caused him to step down from work and it is unlikely he will return.
Speaking about his diagnosis in his column for The Express , James expressed his sympathies to A Place In The Sun's Jonnie Irwin, who also has terminal cancer.
He wrote: "I found it very difficult to talk about mine because I didn't want people to think I was using it to get sympathy or for any other reason. But along with a number of other people in the public eye, I am at stage four. There is no stage five.
"I don't want sympathy; I've had a good life but I do find talking about it helps me and although that might sound selfish, hopefully it helps others too. Jonnie, mate, I wish you the best of luck. It is very difficult and you're a lot younger than me.
"Hopefully things will help you get through that weren't available previously, while the amount of work being done on fighting cancer is amazing."
*If you're struggling and need to talk, the Samaritans operate a free helpline open 24/7 on 116 123. Alternatively, you can email jo@samaritans.org or visit their site to find your local branch
