Partner says Jeremy Clarkson going public with cancer diagnosis helped thousands

Jeremy Clarkson’s partner says his decision to go public with his prostate cancer diagnosis has helped thousands of people.

The former Top Gear presenter is in remission after revealing on the latest series of Clarkson’s Farm that he had been diagnosed with “aggressive” prostate cancer.

The 66-year-old chose to have high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), a minimally invasive medical procedure that uses high-frequency soundwaves to heat and destroy targeted cancer cells.

Jeremy Clarkson poses with an NTA award (Ian West/PA)

PA Wire

His partner of nine years, Lisa Hogan, says he was initially reluctant to share his diagnosis with the public.

She told the Daily Star Sunday: “I’m really happy he caught his prostate cancer early and I’m really proud of him for putting it on the show, because that was a really big decision.

“When I was filming him in hospital at first, he said, ‘Please don’t’.

“It was (producer) Andy Wilman who convinced him to do it, to help everybody else. When the show came out, Prostate Cancer UK had 30,000 people going on to their website in one day.”

Hogan says Clarkson has also benefitted from opening up to those around him.

“Yes, of course it was a terrible worry,” she added. “But what I did encourage him to do was to talk to his friends.

“He didn’t want to initially, but he’s got lots of friends who’ve been through the same thing and he’s been talking to them about it. I think that’s really helped.”