Louis Walsh reveals on Celebrity Big Brother he had cancer in lockdown
Louis Walsh has revealed he was diagnosed with a rare type of cancer during lockdown in 2020 on tonight’s (15 March) episode of Celebrity Big Brother.
The former X Factor judge, 71, told housemates that he suffered Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia, a type of blood cancer, but has since been given the all clear following treatment.
Walsh told celebrity chef Levi Roots and actress Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu “no-one knew he was sick” as he battled the disease.
Levi asked how Louis what he did during lockdown and he replied: “I was sick, and I think nobody knew I was sick. I had cancer. A mild version, a rare one.”
He went on to explain he didn’t realise he had it until “he went to the hospital” and they checked him and “found it”.
The music manager said his diagnosis left him in “shock” and gave him a “reality check’”.
He said: “It did affect me mentally, I got to be honest with you. [Points to his head] it’s just up here, even when I go past a hospital I almost get sick.
“It’s all gone, I’m fine. It was just the shock of being sick and that word…nobody wants that word.
“I have it blocked out, a reality check, you see so many people sick and it’s terrible.
“In my world it was all about pop music and all that. I didn’t think of anybody getting sick or anything like that. And that was like wow reality check, you’re in the real world.”
When Ekin-Su asked if his health woes affected him mentally?” Louis pointed to his head and replied: “It did, I gotta be honest with you. It’s just up here, even when I go past a hospital I almost get sick.
He went on to say the disease is “all gone”, adding “I’m fine”.
Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia is a form of bone marrow cancer, in which sufferers have an excessive amount of abnormal protein in the blood.
Before he joined the show, Louis revealed he had signed-up to the ITV show to have fun after attending two recent funerals for friends that gave him a reality check about his own mortality.
He told The Daily Mirror: “I don’t want to be in my final chapter, I want to live. I want to enjoy myself. I don’t want to die. But then it makes sense that you get to this age and think, why not? Life’s too short.
“I’ve lost some people in my life recently and that changes you. I went to two funerals. Yeah, It’s a reality check, for sure. It makes you think about what life is all about. It makes you rethink what’s important and what you care about. Losing friends makes you think about your own mortality.
“I want to enjoy myself more. I want to see the world. Everywhere. I don’t have a bucket list. I don’t like that word. I just want to see the rest of the world. I just want to enjoy life – live, love and laugh. I don’t want to be older and think if only I had done that. I don’t want to do that no. There’s no time for regrets. I’m happy. I’m honestly happy at the moment and this has given me an extra nudge to go and enjoy life even more.”
