Balding tells of battle with cancer

12 April 2012

BBC presenter Clare Balding is battling thyroid cancer.

She has had her thyroid gland removed and is to undergo radioactive iodine treatment in July, the Daily Mail said.

She told the paper: "So far there have been no real side effects. I've been wheezing slightly but other than that I feel fine."

And she added: "My main worry is my voice because that is what I do."

Former jockey Balding, 38, had an initial throat operation in April after the Grand National horse race, the BBC's coverage of which she helped to anchor.

The race saw her come in for criticism after she joked live on air about the state of winning jockey Liam Treadwell's teeth.

On her website she explained why she had not come on to TV or radio afterwards to publicly apologise.

"I was in hospital, having a cyst removed from my thyroid gland and being prepared for a general anaesthetic. I consequently missed most of the discussion," Balding said.

The BBC has told her to take as much time off as she wants. She is currently recuperating at her parents' stables in Kingsclere, near Newbury, Berkshire.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in