Taskmaster star Richard Herring has revealed that he has been diagnosed with cancer for a second time, describing this diagnosis as 'incurable'. The comedian and Taskmaster champion shared the news in his Substack newsletter, explaining that he now has blood cancer rather than testicular cancer, which he was treated for in 2021.
Herring's announcement
Detailing the diagnosis, the 58-year-old wrote: 'I have cancer again. Not ball cancer this time, I can't afford to lose another one of those (though I will be doing my show The Male Eunuch if it does happen).' He continued: 'This time I have blood cancer. And God is determined to make sure I get the funniest cancers possible and this one is called hairy cell leukaemia.'
Herring acknowledged that the cancer is incurable but stressed that it is treatable and 'will not kill him'. He added in parentheses: 'The treatment has a tiny chance of killing me, but so has loading the dishwasher, so don't worry about it.'
Humor amid hardship
True to his comedic style, Herring joked about leveraging his diagnosis: 'I will of course be using the fact that I have incurable cancer for all it's worth for the rest of my (hopefully long) life. I can get out of doing other people's podcasts, any social event I don't fancy and also set up a JustGiving page with me with a sad face, hugging my kids and asking for money to help them once I'm gone. Ha ha ha. It's not even a scam. It's all true. I just won't mention that fact that it's treatable.'
Details of diagnosis
Herring explained that the diagnosis took several years to confirm. He wrote: 'They found a few of the cells in my bone marrow about 12 years ago, but it didn't get any worse and after five years of being tested, the doctor said it was probably going to be OK.' He admitted that he had 'sort of forgotten about it' in the time since. He then detailed his first day of chemotherapy under the care of the NHS, assuring fans there 'were no immediate problems'.
Taskmaster success
Herring won the tenth series of Taskmaster in 2020 and returned two years later to compete in the Champion of Champions special, which he also won.
