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From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n
Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nRead more<\/span><\/svg><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nJohnny Ball has revealed that he privately dealt with prostate cancer after being diagnosed in 2022.<\/p>\n
The 87-year-old presenter, father of radio host Zoe and best known for presenting the children\u2019s TV shows Play School<\/em>, said in a new interview that he recovered from the disease after receiving three months of radiation treatment.<\/p>\nHe revealed: \u201cI was diagnosed with prostate cancer in August 2022 and, thankfully, after three months of daily radiation treatment, starting in the September, I\u2019m through it, I\u2019m fine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ball said he did not take his recovery for granted, revealing that several of his friends have died from the disease, including Harry Secombe, the Goon Show<\/em> star who died in 2001, aged 79.<\/p>\n\u201cMy friend Harry Secombe didn’t survive it, Bob Monkhouse didn’t survive it,\u201d Ball said. \u201cI’m 20 years younger than them and I am lucky, because now we can cure it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ball added: \u201cYou\u2019ve got to cash in on what’s wonderful about life today and stop dwelling on what’s dreary and depressing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The presenter revealed that he was staying healthy by following a strict diet and exercise routine, telling The Mirror<\/em>: \u201cFirst, I do a simple bending and stretching routine that lasts about two and a half minutes, the speed I do it at. And then, I lift my two 2kg dumbbells for two and a half minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cMy daily routine is six to seven minutes at the most, but it keeps me incredibly fit.\u201d<\/p>\n
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open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Johnny Ball and his daughter Zoe (PA)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nBall revealed that he eats cereals with prunes for breakfast, saying: \u201cIt keeps me going.\u201d <\/p>\n
He added that he has two pints of beer per evening, and \u201cnever any more than that\u201d. He said his wife, Dianne, \u201ccan always tell if I have had even half a pint more \u2013 I start arguing with the TV\u201d.<\/p>\n
The father-of-three, who made his name presenting the children\u2019s maths and science series Think of a Number<\/em>, still works by giving educational talks in schools.<\/p>\nHe said: \u201cI would never retire. It’s a joy to still be working.\u201d<\/p>\n
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open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Johnny Ball said he is now \u2018fine\u2019 after undergoing treatment for prostate cancer (PA Archive)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nThe presenter recently celebrated his 50th wedding anniversary with his second wife, Dianne, a former dance teacher.<\/p>\n
Calling her his \u201csoul mate\u201d, he said of their relationship: \u201cWe walk a lot. Yesterday we walked our dog four miles; today, we walked about two and a half miles. We\u2019re in good health, and we make the most of it. You\u2019ve got to focus on all the positives.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pair share two sons, Dan, 46, a civil engineer, and Nick, 48, a screenwriter.<\/p>\n
Ball welcomed his daughter, the BBC Radio 2 presenter, with his first wife Julia, who died in April 2024 from pancreatic cancer.<\/p>\n
Zoe recently revealed she experienced an emotional breakdown following her mother\u2019s death, which forced her to take a step back from her BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show<\/em>.<\/p>\nSpeaking to her Dig It <\/em>podcast co-host Jo Whiley, the radio DJ said: \u201cI had to stop working, I was on the floor in the kitchen, I couldn’t move.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cI had a proper emotional breakdown, I haven’t talked about it very much but it was brutal.\u201d<\/p>\n
In December, Zoe announced she was leaving her Radio 2 slot to focus on family. She returned to the station in May this year, presenting a new show on Saturday afternoons as part of a more relaxed schedule. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference. Read more Johnny Ball has revealed that he privately dealt with prostate cancer after being diagnosed in 2022. The 87-year-old presenter, father of radio host Zoe and best known for presenting the children\u2019s TV shows Play School, said in a new interview that he recovered from the disease after receiving three months of radiation treatment. He revealed: \u201cI was diagnosed with prostate cancer in August 2022 and, thankfully, after three months of daily radiation treatment, starting in the September, I\u2019m through it, I\u2019m fine.\u201d Ball said he did not take his recovery for granted, revealing that several of his friends have died from the disease, including Harry Secombe, the Goon Show star who died in 2001, aged 79. \u201cMy friend Harry Secombe didn’t survive it, Bob Monkhouse didn’t survive it,\u201d Ball said. \u201cI’m 20 years younger than them and I am lucky, because now we can cure it.\u201d Ball added: \u201cYou\u2019ve got to cash in on what’s wonderful about life today and stop dwelling on what’s dreary and depressing.\u201d The p…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6316"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6316\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}