Radio pioneer who reinvented the wheel – James Whale's life blighted by cancer that almost drove him to Dignitas

The Sun

6 hours ago

TWENTY-five years ago he was given a 50 per cent chance of survival.
British radio personality, television presenter, podcast host and 'shock jock' trailblazer, James Whale had tragically lost his wife of 48 years, Melinda from lung cancer two years earlier.
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In February 2000, he himself was diagnosed with kidney cancer.
He underwent an operation to remove his left kidney, after a large tumour was discovered, where the odds of survival were in the balance.
'As soon as the word cancer is mentioned, everyone thinks, 'Oh I am dying. That's it,'' he was later to say on the podcast series he made with his second wife, Nadine, called Tales of the Whales.
'It is not a death sentence. And the size of the tumour is irrelevant because the one I had taken out was the size of a football.'
He returned to work and, in 2006, launched the James Whale Fund for Kidney Cancer to fund research and raise awareness of the disease, which later merged with Kidney Cancer UK.
In 2016 he took part in Celebrity Big Brother despite having felt unwell for about a year.
It wasn't until 2020, when he started to forget names on air while presenting his popular nightly show on TalkRadio that he decided to get medically checked out. It was bad news.
"The woman looked worried and she said, 'I'm so sorry. I've got really, really bad news for you. I'm afraid 20 years ago you had kidney cancer. Well, it looks like it's come back. You've got a tumour on your kidney.'
"And I thought, 'OK, well I'll have to do all over again.' And then she said, 'I'm sorry. Sadly it's spread. You've got small lesions in your brain and your lung, in your spine, in your pituitary gland.'"
This time he knew it was terminal and such was the shock that his immediate reaction was to consider euthanasia.
'I came home, had a little think about things and I decided I'm just booking myself a trip to Dignitas. You might as well just go and get it over with,' he told The Sun in an exclusive interview.
'I'd looked into it quite some time ago after Melinda died and it's been something in the back of my mind.'
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But his sons, James and Peter, encouraged him to seek help from the kidney cancer charity that he set up after his first battle with the disease.
The double dose of medicine and a positive mental attitude saw him carrying on and returning to work.
On 13 May 2021, his 70th birthday, he announced his engagement on Twitter but did not reveal his fiancée's identity.
That October, he married Nadine Lamont-Brown.
She had refused to listen to him when, aware of his condition, he offered her a way out.
'It was so unfair on her, so I said, 'I think we should cool it and not see each other', and she replied, 'Oh that's nice, so if I'd just been diagnosed with a terminal illness, you wouldn't come and see me anymore?', so we carried on.
'Living with cancer, especially a terminal diagnosis, is a constant rollercoaster of emotions. But Its brought me closer to my darling wife Nadine.
"We talk about my cancer – the good, bad and bloody annoying parts of it – every week on our podcast Tales of the Whales. We like to have a good laugh about it, too. It's wonderfully therapeutic and allows me to get out of my head.'
In an emotional broadcast in July 2025, he told listeners on his podcast that he had been given twelve weeks to live and was now up to week seven.
'I'm not me anymore. I can't breathe, I can't think, I can't talk. I still can't hear very well, which is more frustrating than anything else.
"I've become very slow in my speech and forgetful. I don't feel I can go on much more.
"My energy levels have gone completely. So, I wish everybody well, and let us hope we go through these phases as quickly as we can."
Towards the end he moved into a hospice close to his Kent home where he died aged 74.
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Born Michael James Whale on 13 May 1951 in Ewell, Surrey, his English father David worked in the family business S&R Whale, which made dresses, aprons and overalls in a factory in Brixton, London.
His Welsh mother Anne was a professional ballet dancer who retired after James and his younger brother Keith were born.
Severely dyslexic, James failed his 11-plus exam and went to the local Church of England school.
He took a keen interest in archery in his mid-teens, becoming Surrey junior archery champion.
After leaving school he worked on a building site before becoming a trainee buyer at Harrods.
Influenced by the likes of Radio DJs Tony Blackburn, Johnnie Walker and Kid Jensen, he decided to try his hand at broadcasting.
His parents were now running a pub in the King's Cross area of London where the family were living and the brewery, Watney, had plans to open a chain of discos.
James took their DJ training course and later had gigs in various Watney venues.
In 1970 he became DJ for Radio Topshop in Oxford Street and in 1974 began hosting an evening talk show on Metro Radio, serving northeast England from studios in Swalwell, Gateshead, where he pioneered the late-night radio phone-in.
He later moved to BBC Radio Derby to present a morning phone-in and in 1982 joined Radio Aire in Leeds to host another late night talk show, where his frank style and droll wit began to get him a lot of attention.
Called The James Whale Radio Show it began to be simultaneously filmed and shown on Yorkshire Television in the late 80s and such was its popularity that it transferred to the entire ITV network.
This late night mix of irreverent chat, music and comedy, laced throughout with James's bluntness and often caustic wit, made him a household name.
'I realised disagreeing with people on air, sometimes even cutting them off, was far more entertaining than playing records,' he explained.
But the sharp ripostes were to be a double edged-sword with accusations of rudeness and bullying.
At TalkRadio he was suspended in 2008 for urging listeners to vote for Boris Johnson in the upcoming London mayoral election.
In 2018 he was suspended again when it was reported that he appeared to laugh at a guest who was speaking about her rape on air.
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No one was more surprised than him when, in April 2024 he was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to broadcasting and charity.
He described receiving the award from Princess Anne at Windsor Castle as the 'pinnacle' of his career.
'It makes me feel very proud that somebody has recognised the fact that I've spent my entire life being rude to people for entertainment. If my parents were alive, they would be in tears. It's a great honour at the end of your life.'
For, by now, he was not sure that he would make it through to the end of the year.
The comfort, support and love he received from Nadine was evident in interviews they gave and in their touching but amusing podcasts. But she admitted that they were like chalk and cheese.
'He's not my cup of tea,' she once laughed. 'If I'd Googled him, I'd have thought, 'He doesn't seem like a very nice man' and we wouldn't have got together.'
Luckily for him, she had never heard of him when they first met at a village pub in Kent, the county where they settled.
'When I finally watched him at work, he was so harsh on people. After a few minutes, I thought, 'This is just horrible'.
'But he's actually really nice and kind. When you watch him at work, it's a persona.
"He can sometimes go into 'work mode' at home, and I'll have to say, 'You're not at work now. You can't cut me off.' No one's ever been nicer to me.'
James retained his fondness for archery throughout his life and away from work liked to spend his time target shooting with his favourite custom made English Long Bow.
Living with cancer for so long had given him time to come to terms with death. 'I'm not scared of dying,' he said, towards the end.
'I want to be buried in the churchyard at the top of the hill. It's a great view.'
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