Louis Walsh has revealed his secret cancer battle.
Louis Walsh' secret cancer battle
The 71-year-old music manager revealed that he was treated for a rare blood cancer during the COVID-19 lockdown and admitted the diagnosis shocked him.
Speaking on 'Celebrity Big Brother', Louis said: "I was sick, and I think nobody knew I was sick
“I had cancer. A mild version, a rare one.
"In my blood, I didn’t even know that I had it until I went to the hospital, and then they checked me, checked me, checked me, then they found it. They said it’s a rare one.”
While Louis said doctors were able to "clear up" the cancer, he admitted that it left him struggling mentally.
When asked by housemate Ekin-Su Culculoglu: “Did it affect you mentally?”, Louis 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.
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.”
A source close to Louis explained that he is in remission from a type of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma called waldenstrom macroglobulinemia.
The insider told The Mirror: “This is the whole reason why Louis wanted to go into 'Celebrity Big Brother'.
“He has spent the last five years at home in Dublin with lockdown and this health battle and it’s given him a reality check on life.
“He just wanted to have some fun.
“Sharon Osbourne was aware of his struggles, but beyond his family no one else knew.
“It’s the reason why he’s sleeping quite a lot in the house and is quite frail.
“But his family are happy he felt comfortable enough to open up his housemates on this, and start to show his softer side."