“Thinking ‘Am I going to be here next year [for Christmas]?’... I told my boys and they said ‘Dad, we need to spend more time with you’.”
Burrell explained he had been for a medical check last year and underwent a “full MOT”, with a PSA test - which can detect prostate cancer - showing “fairly unusual” levels. It prompted his doctor to send him for an MRI scan, which showed a shadow on his prostate.
While the former I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! contestant feels “so tired”, he feels fortunate it was caught early and wants to raise awareness of the disease.
Speaking on UK TV show Lorraine, he said: “At the same time you realise that there are thousands of men out there like me who have no symptoms and don’t know they have it.
“I was really lucky they caught it early. I don’t think men are particularly good about going to the doctors - they need nudging.”
Burrell will undergo surgery next month to have his prostate gland removed.
He said: “’My father days are over. I don’t want any more children, I’ve got two wonderful boys, that’s fine.
“But not everything finishes because you lose your prostate. It can continue to be as good as it ever was in the bedroom.
“You can still have a good sex life but you have to talk about it. Talk about it, don’t hide it.”
