Cliff Richard reveals he’s been undergoing cancer treatment for the past year

Singer also called the absence of a national prostate cancer screening programme ‘absolutely ridiculous’

Veteran singer Sir Cliff Richard has revealed he was treated for prostate cancer over the past year, with the 85-year-old announcing the disease is currently “gone”.

The music icon used his experience to advocate for a national screening programme for men, urging early detection.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain, Sir Cliff said his diagnosis came during an insurance health check before a tour of Australia and New Zealand.

He expressed relief that the cancer was caught early, stating: “The good fortune was that it was not very old, and the other thing is that it has not metastasised. Nothing had moved into bones or anything like that.”

Cliff Richard appears at Wimbledon in 2023 (PA)

The star, known for hits like “The Young Ones” and “Summer Holiday”, stressed the importance of regular checks, saying: “I don’t know whether it’s going to come back. We can’t tell those sort of things but we need to, absolutely, I’m convinced, get there, get tested, get checked.”

He labelled the absence of a national screening programme as “absolutely ridiculous”.

He continued, highlighting governmental responsibility: “We have governments to look after our country and those who live in that country, so I can’t see how you can say, ‘Oh we can do this, we can do that, but we don’t do this for these people’.”

“We all deserve to have the same ability to have a test and then start treatments really early. It seems to me – I’ve only been for one year now in touch with cancer, but every time I’ve talked with anybody this has come up and so I think our government must listen to us."

After the King’s recent cancer treatment announcement, Sir Cliff expressed a desire to collaborate on awareness. “I’ve been involved with many charities over the years and if the King is happy to front it for us, I’m sure loads of people, I certainly would join him… If the King is listening, I think most of us would say ‘yeah – we’re available’.”

The King recently said that he was ‘overwhelmed’ after his cancer diagnosis (PA)

His calls for broader screening come as the UK National Screening Committee announced a draft recommendation in November for a targeted prostate cancer screening programme.

ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

If implemented, it would invite men aged 45-61 with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 genetic mutation for biennial screening.