Chris Hughes has urged TV viewers to check their testicles in an emotional video, hours after revealing his brother has been diagnosed with cancer.
Taking to Instagram on Tuesday evening, Chris, 25, admitted brother Ben had been diagnosed with testicular cancer only hours earlier – just weeks after the Love Island star was examined for the condition on live television.
Appearing on Wednesday’s episode of This Morning in a candid video, the emotional star thanked the show for their support, while asking for fans to check for unusual testicular lumps, which could save their lives.
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Support: Chris Hughes has urged TV viewers to check their testicles in an emotional video, hours after revealing his brother has been diagnosed with cancer
Inseparable: Taking to Instagram on Tuesday evening, Chris, 25, admitted brother Ben had been diagnosed with testicular cancer only hours earlier – just weeks after the Love Island star was examined for the condition on live television (pictured with Ben before his diagnosis)
He said: ‘Morning everybody I hope you’re well I just wanted to thank This Morning for letting me do the examination on air.
‘He (Ben) popped into my room the day after I’d done the exam and he said he checked himself and found a lump.
‘So he went to the doctor and had the results yesterday and was told it was testicular cancer. Hopefully he’s found it at an early stage which is vital and it hasn’t spread.
Thanks: He said: ‘With that I just want to urge everybody to get checked out, men all across the world ignore that. If you catch it an early stage it shouldn’t be an issue’
Inspirational: Hosts Holly Willoughby and Philip Schofield looked moved as Chris thanked the show for letting him do the examination live on air
‘With that I just want to urge everybody to get checked out, men all across the world ignore that. If you catch it an early stage it shouldn’t be an issue.
‘Fingers crossed for my brother, hopefully he recovers well. But thank you for allowing me to pop onto the show, and take care everybody.’
The TV appearance came after Chris shared the devastating news, accompanied by a shot of the pair as children, he wrote: ‘A sad day. My brother was diagnosed with testicular cancer this lunchtime, in which we pray for a kind prognosis.’
Devastated: Chris won praise after having a testicular check-up live on the show
The TV personality – one of five brothers – revealed Ben had originally discovered an unusual lump in his testicles the day after Chris had urged viewers to be examined for the disease during an appearance on This Morning in November.
He explained: ‘He came into my room at 3am the morning after my testicular examination on tv, clearly struggling to sleep, telling me he’d found a lump and asked me if he’s checking it right.
‘To which I told him, ‘Ben, it’s 3am, I’ll look in the morning, but if there’s a lump, go and check it checked tomorrow with the doctor’.
Moving: Taking to Instagram on Tuesday evening, Chris, 25, admitted brother Ben had been given the news only hours earlier in a post accompanied by a shot of the pair as children
Hopeful: ‘A sad day. My brother was diagnosed with testicular cancer this lunchtime, in which we pray for a kind prognosis,’ he wrote alongside images of himself and Ben as youngsters
‘Today he sent me a message telling me the news, and thanking me for making him aware, else he’d never have known he had cancer.. That literally broke my heart.’
He added: ‘Testicular cancer is a silent killer, men need realise this and check themselves regularly. It takes 10 seconds. Please do it.’
Appearing on This Morning with Dr. Chris Steele in 2019, Chris was keen to raise awareness of testicular cancer and lowered his underwear so Steele, 76, could illustrate how an examination takes place.
Watch and learn: Appearing on This Morning with Dr. Chris Steele in 2019, Chris was keen to raise awareness of testicular cancer and and lowered his underwear so Steele, 76, could illustrate how an examination takes place
Opening up: The reality star revealed a long scar on his own testicle as he spoke about his own shock health scare during his appearance on the show in November
The reality star revealed a long scar on his own testicle as he spoke about his own shock health scare, telling hosts Phillip Schofield, 56, and Rochelle Humes, 29, about what his male relatives went through.
He said: ‘I was diagnosed with two separate conditions, I had operations but there was no long term damage.
‘I was around 14 and I noticed like a build up of veins and eventually got it looked at [six years later, aged 20] and they referred to hospitals and I ended up having three operations on my left testical, and that was more down to safety with infertility, because the veins take oxygen.
‘My sperm count was quite low, I have had a hydrocele. I have had four operations on them.’
Anxiety: Chris previously said that he waited until he was 20 to see a doctor because he felt embarrassed, but he has since realised he needn’t have been
Chris previously said that he waited until he was 20 to see a doctor because he felt embarrassed, but he has since realised he needn’t have been.
He continued: ‘It surrounded my left side and I had keyhole [surgery] in my hip region but that didn’t work and I have a big scar across my pubic region where they’ve cut in and coiled the veins off in that area to hopefully settle them down slightly.’
Explaining how he froze his sperm at the same time, Chris said, ‘I did. My two brothers are completely infertile… although one brother does have a child now, it was a miracle child.
Worrying: Cancer Research UK figures show there are around 2,400 men are diagnosed with testicular cancer each year across the home nations
‘But my other brother, Will, does not have a sperm in his body. My count was quite low but I did get some frozen.
‘Altogether I’ve had four operations [on my testicles]. And my cousin had testicular cancer. It was secondary because he only discovered [he had a problem] after suffering with awful stomach cramps…’
Cancer Research UK figures show there are around 2,400 men are diagnosed with testicular cancer each year across the home nations.
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