Jools Holland has been raising awareness around prostate cancer after receiving a life-changing diagnosis of his own. The musician, 66, is back on BBC Two this Saturday, from 10.30pm, taking the reigns of Later.
.. with Jools Holland which he has been loyally hosting since 1992.
But in March 2022, Julian Miles Holland - as he is legally known - made headlines when he broke an eight-year-long silence to reveal he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2014. The former Squeeze band member made the revelation as he announced a star-studded event in partnership with the charity Prostate Cancer UK and remembered his diagnosis as nothing short of shocking as he showed no symptoms. At the time he dropped the bombshell, Holland had joined forces with the charity for a musical even titled Raise the Roof which featured a string of well-known music names and equally famous comedians as they took to the stage at the Royal Albert Hall.
"I had no awareness of prostate cancer, no symptoms that I noticed whatsoever until I was diagnosed following a routine blood test in 2014", Holland said. Luckily, the cancer had been caught at the right time. "Thankfully I was successfully treated, but if more people were aware of their risk and caught the disease early, then more lives would be saved.
Remembering his own experience with the illness, Holland was adamant about encouraging caution around the condition: "If I can bring people’s awareness to the facts of prostate cancer then I would certa.