Bill Turnbull, 63, opened up to a fellow cancer sufferer on Twitter ahead of his appearance on ITV’s This Morning today. The BBC Breakfast favourite was sent a message by a fan named Michelle, who is battling breast cancer. The video message came in response to his documentary Staying Alive, which focused on his own incurable prostate cancer diagnosis and aired on Channel 4 last week. The fan said in the clip: “Evening Bill, just watching the documentary as we speak.
“You are a fantastic, brave, strong, inspirational cancer warrior.
“Your smile and your personality and your sense of humour is amazing.”
She added: “You do need a sense of humour and a big smile to get through cancer treatment, as we both know it’s not very pleasant.
“I’ve completed my chemotherapy for now but I’ve got surgery and radiotherapy to go and you’re right, you can’t take life for granted and you do need to appreciate every minute.
“So take care, stay strong and keep fighting.”
Bill seemed to be overcome with emotion after listening to Michelle’s words, as he replied to her in view of his 93,000 followers: “Thank you so much Michelle.
“You’ve made me cry – again! I wish you all the best with your treatment. Bless you x.”
Michelle appreciated Bill’s response and told him: “You’re only allowed happy tears Bill x.”
Bill addressed how he is coping with his treatment while speaking to Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby on This Morning.
He informed the hosts: “I am in no pain, no discomfort, I’ve changed the way I eat, changed the way I live.
“I’ve cut out almost all alcohol apart from special occasions.”
The former BBC Breakfast presenter added: “I do feel psychically a lot better – psychologically a little different as you have ups and downs.”
Bill divulged he will be heading straight for chemotherapy at Royal Marsden after the show.
Speaking about medical procedures, he explained: “We do have an attitude where we fix the problem with surgery.
“At the same time, I feel maybe we can try and see ourselves from within – this illness is a part of me, I’m not going to try and kill you.”
Opening up about how he achieves this mindset, Bill continued: “I think it’s all about the moment you wake up and try and think positively. This is all part of nature – there’s still a beauty to it.”
This Morning airs weekdays on ITV at 10.30pm.