Jimmy Tarbuck hails NHS and Tom Jones as he plots comeback after cancer fight

Comedy star Jimmy Tarbuck has saluted the NHS and thanked old pal Tom Jones for lifting his spirits as he battles prostate cancer.

Tarby told the Sunday Mirror how chats and meals with singer Sir Tom have been cheering him up.

And he revealed doctors have told him his prostate cancer has not spread – and he is already plotting his comeback with a tour next year.

Jimmy, 80, says: “God bless the NHS! I have had pretty good reports and they have said ‘You won’t die from it. But you can die with it’.

“But there are thousands of men out there who have prostate cancer and please emphasise that I am taking the medication to try to fight it and if we can find a cure, even better. The disease is a little setback, but boys, get tested!”

Of longtime buddy Sir Tom, Jimmy adds: “Tom rings me and says ‘How are you then? Let’s go and have an Italian’.

“I have also been over to his recently – he is a serious old showbusiness friend.”

Jimmy says it was The Voice coach Tom, also 80, who encouraged him to get tested – ultimately saving his life.

He explains: “I was backstage at one of his concerts just before my 80th birthday and I rushed past him to go the toilet. I had been having this uncontrollable urge to pee a lot and Tom clocked on to what was going on and he said ‘Jimmy, go and get your prostate tested’.

“It’s thanks to him that the doctors caught it hopefully before it has spread.”

The coronavirus pandemic has hit cancer sufferers hard, delaying treatment for many. And Jimmy, who lives in Surrey, is thankful he saw doctors before lockdown was imposed.

He added: “I am one of the lucky ones because the Royal Marsden Hospital is right on our doorstep and I went to the top of the list. But I know other cancer patients have not been so lucky and some have even lost their lives, which is the greatest travesty.”

Of his treatment, he adds: “I have been having injections and tablets daily. I’m doing the lot. I’ve got every pain you can have, including liquorice allsorts!

“I realised you have to have a sense of humour about it when you are having a big needle injected in your stomach, that is not very pleasant.

“You think, ‘Oh b*****ks. Get on with it, doc!’ My mind did wander and I remember thinking of people I know, people I like and people I love and then it was all over.”

But Liverpool-born Jimmy – who has three children with wife Pauline – says his fears were allayed when his doctor revealed the cancer had not spread. It has encouraged him to plan his next tour, starting at Norwich Theatre Royal on June 6 next year.

Jimmy – who found stardom at the London Palladium in 1963 – says: “I sincerely hope nothing happens to me in the interim.”

The star of quiz shows Winner Takes All and Full Swing wants to keep fans chuckling for years to come. He says: “I’d love to get to 100, another 20 years, but I take each day as it comes. I get up, clean my teeth, look in the mirror and say, ‘You are still here you lucky b****r’. I’m punching away and I’m very grateful.

“If I have a few more years making people laugh that would be great. I am going on the road because I love it.”

And with another 12 months of treatment scheduled, a Channel 5 documentary chronicling his illness is lined up.