I have one message for you: Please watch Stand Up to Cancer because it saves lives

This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine.

My dad had stomach cancer when he was 55 and leukaemia when he was 69. Just before he died he told me, “Good luck with everything in London.” When I was asked, two years later, to host Stand Up to Cancer, his words had even more resonance. I felt like he’d been saying, “Do this for me.” My dad died at the end of 2012. It’s 13 years down the track, but I still feel like I’m doing this for him.

My co-presenter and friend Davina McCall’s connection to cancer has become even more personal over the last couple of weeks, having revealed she’s undergone surgery for breast cancer. She’s said it was caught “very, very early, which is incredibly lucky”.

When I saw the news, I sent her a message saying, “I’m always amazed by the amount of preparation you do for Stand Up to Cancer, but you’ve gone above and beyond the call of duty this year!” Her response? Well, she wrote back, “This is why I f**king love you!” I’ve said this many times: the best way to make brilliant live TV is to stand next to Davina McCall.

Her message is to get checked, don’t delay. That sums up exactly what we want to say with Stand Up to Cancer. We need to get that message out there. According to figures from Cancer Research UK, at least nine million people in the UK aren’t up to date with their cancer screening.

I admit that I’ve also, in the past, felt a fear of screening. In Australia, you have a bowel cancer test when you’re 50. [Bowel cancer screenings are offered to people over 50 in England, Scotland and Wales and those over 60 in Northern Ireland]. I didn’t do mine until I was 54. I feared the worst and was squeamish about posting an envelope with my poo in it. Now I understand the importance of not delaying and of getting checked early. It can literally save your life.

In 2024, the Princess of Wales and the King both announced their cancer diagnoses. That is a reminder that anyone can get it. Nobody is immune because of rank, privilege or wealth.

We present Stand Up to Cancer every two years and, since its UK launch in 2012, it has raised over £113 million, funding 73 clinical trials and projects involving more than 13,000 cancer patients nationwide. The money has funded research such as robotic and laser-assisted cancer surgery, AI to help detect and treat cancers, and even lollipops that could help detect mouth cancer.

Every time we get up to host the show, it feels like there’s been another breakthrough, another treatment, a less invasive form of radiation therapy or chemotherapy. But because it’s not sexy – it’s scientists working quietly in a lab – we don’t hear enough about that.

This year, as well as special editions of Celebrity Gogglebox and The Last Leg, we’ll feature, for the first time live on UK television, clinical consultations with cancer specialists, from Addenbrooke’s and Royal Papworth Hospitals. These will unfold in real time to demystify what happens inside a cancer clinic and hopefully take away some of the fear around diagnosis.

The producers have asked me, “Is there anything you’re not up for on the night?” Well, in 2021 I had my butt cheeks waxed while doing a reverse bungee jump outside Wembley Stadium to raise funds for Stand Up to Cancer, and in 2020 I had a prostate exam live on air to encourage men with symptoms to get themselves checked. I’m not sure there’s any part of my body that’s unscathed!

But if I have one message to RT readers, it’s please watch because it helps. Our job is to entertain you as a viewer and keep you watching for three hours. But it’s also to show you how your donations help, because they really do. A fiver can help save a life.

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To find out more about Stand Up to Cancer and how you can get involved or make a donation, visit its official website.

Stand Up to Cancer's special night of programming airs on Friday 12th December on Channel 4.

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