The one-time Old Grey Whistle Test host told of his "devastation" at the weekend. Doctors first found he was suffering from an "aggressive" form of the disease in 2007.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4′s Desert Island Discs, Harris said: "I was fortunate - very, very fortunate - to catch it in time. Then it was a question of arresting the growth, and then treatment, two months of radiotherapy. Since then it's been management."

He's been living with the condition for several years now, but admitted he sometimes has to deal with episodes where it comes back in force. "Every now and again all the readings will go shooting up," he explained. "That happened to me a couple of years ago when it looked as though it had really got serious again.