Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Entertainment
Jessica Sansome

Only Fools And Horses star Patrick Murray shares cancer diagnosis as he has tumour removed

Only Fools And Horses actor Patrick Murray has told fans he has been diagnosed with cancer.

The 65-year-old is best known for playing Mickey Pearce in the classic BBC sitcom.

Murray has revealed he had a cancerous lung tumour removed as he endorsed a government advert urging people to get unexplained discomfort checked out.

He says it was an ultrasound that gave him a "fighting chance".

READ MORE: Rylan Clark had 'no phone' as he gave up social media control during mental health struggle

The news comes four months after John Challis, who played unscrupulous second-hand car dealer Boycie in the beloved series, died from cancer aged 79.

On Twitter, Murray said: "Naturally I wanted to keep my own health problems private, but failing to fully endorse this ad would be selfish.

"Thanks to my ultrascan I have a fighting chance.

"It showed my organs needed further investigation and tumours were spotted. This led to a pet scan which covers a much larger area.

"To my wonderful surprise these lesions were not cancerous but the scan did find an EARLY stage cancerous tumour in my lung.

Patrick with late co-star John Challis (mirror.co.uk)

"This has since been removed and I am tweeting now, which would not be the case if I hadn’t had the ultrasound all those months ago."

The actor has urged those who are suffering unexplained symptoms to not "ignore it if the problem persists".

"The other day I saw a gov advert advising anyone who has been suffering from bloating, pain or discomfort in the abdominal region and constipation to ask their GP to refer them for an ultrasound exam," he said.

"It’s quick totally painless and it can save your life, I now speak from my own experience.

"As for me and thanks to the NHS, I can now see the same beautiful horizon as you."

Murrray played dim-witted wide boy Mickey alongside David Jason as Del Boy and Nicholas Lyndhurst as Rodney Trotter on Only Fools And Horses from 1983 to 2003.

For all the latest news and gossip, click here to sign up to our newsletter

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.