Masterchef finalist with rare form of cancer urges men to get a check-up

Billy Wright, two of the last three contestants of Masterchef.
Eliza Slawther21 December 2017

A Masterchef finalist today told of his shock at being diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, saying men should be more proactive if they think there is something wrong with them.

Billy Wright, who was a runner-up in the BBC1 television competition last year, was diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer in June.

Now in recovery, he is raising money for Cancer Research UK with business partner and fellow MasterChef runner-up Jack Layer for a 24-hour charity supper club. The pair ran pop-up restaurant The Supper Club at the Southbank Centre throughout August, despite Mr Wright taking two weeks off to recover from surgery. From 11am on February 3 to 11am on February 4 — World Cancer Day — The Supper Club will return near King’s Cross, with the two chefs cooking round the clock.

The cancer diagnosis shocked Mr Wright, 34, who went to his doctor in May with a cough. The chef, who lives in Clapham, described himself as a “typical bloke” because he did not see a doctor sooner. He said: “Originally I went to the doctor’s back in May-time with a persistent cough and being a typical bloke, I didn’t go in for about a month because I was like, ‘I can get over this, it’ll be fine’.

“At the same appointment I said, ‘I also have a lump on my neck,’ and they were like, ‘You have a lump on your neck and you haven’t been to the doctor’s?’” He was referred to St George’s Hospital, Tooting, and was told he had thyroid cancer.

Around three in every 100,000 men will get the disease but it is more common in women. It is usually treatable with surgery and radioiodine therapy. If diagnosed in men under the age of 45 it has a 90 per cent survival rate.

Mr Wright, pictured, now aims to raise funds and encourage young men to see a doctor if they think they are unwell. He said: “I want to tell my story and tell people, especially blokes who are probably worse, to go to the doctor and get things checked because everyone is there to get you through, basically.

“Don’t be stoic about things and just get it sorted.”

The Supper Club is at Plum & Spilt Milk from February 3-4. For tickets, visit billy-and-jacks-24-hour-supper-club.designmynight.com

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