BBC Breakfast host shares cancer diagnosis live on air in bittersweet segment
Ben Thompson, who was presenting BBC Breakfast alongside Luxmy Gopal on Monday, spoke with postman John about the BBC's Make a Difference Awards.
Ben Thompson revealed that one of Monday's BBC Breakfast guests was fighting cancer and currently undergoing treatment. Towards the end of the daily news programme, Ben and Luxmy Gopal chatted with postman John Wilkins about the BBC's Make a Difference Awards, which honour individuals who enhance the lives of others.
The presenters welcomed John, who was among the nominees for the award. However, during the segment, Ben took a moment to announce that John was not only a stalwart in his community but also battling leukaemia.
"I have always been a busy person," John stated before adding: "I would never be a sprinter, I just keep going."
Ben queried: "John, am I correct in understanding you're awaiting medical treatment?"
"I do, yeah, I have been diagnosed with leukaemia," John responded, reports the Express.
"You're doing all of this," Ben interjected. You're doing all of this additional work, caring for these other people, and you're still waiting for treatment yourself.
"When are you having that? Do you know yet?".
"I have platelet transfusions regularly, but I need to have a bone marrow transplant and stem cells," John disclosed.
"And for that, you need to have a perfect match, and at the moment, they haven't been able to find a perfect match."
John explained the best match they had found was someone residing in Japan.
"A long way away," Ben observed before lauding John: "You are brilliant."
John has been nominated in the Great Neighbour Category. On the moment he discovered, he said, "I was totally shocked.
"All I do is be my normal person on my delivery, and I help people all the time. From feeding the dogs to changing a light bulb."
The emotional segment wasn't the only talking point on Monday's BBC Breakfast.
Earlier in the show, Luxmy told her co-star, "That's not good," after he announced some surprising news. Ben revealed the latest statistics about where most people eat their dinner in the evenings. But when he said that some respondents to an official survey admitted to eating in bed, Luxmy was left taken aback.
To kick off the discussion, Ben asked his co-star: "What do you think about having your phone at the dinner table?"
"I would say just hygiene-wise, it is not ideal because you know, your phone has a lot of bacteria on it," Luxmy replied,
"You use it a lot without washing your hands; there is just a lot of dirt there."
Ben went on to point out that many people sit at their tables and scroll on their phones or watch TV while they eat instead of talking to their family.
"I understand watching TV, it's kind of a classic, it's how TV dinners were a thing," Luxmy went on. "Watching TV while you eat is quite common."
Ben then read out some of the statistics that had been reported. He said: "Three percent eat their dinner in a bedroom.."
Before he could continue, Luxmy looked disgusted and responded: "Ohhh, that is not good. That doesn't seem hygienic."
BBC Breakfast is broadcast every day at 6am on BBC One.
