Sky News' Dermot Murnaghan reveals cancer diagnosis
The 67-year-old presented the BBC quiz show Eggheads between 2003 and 2014 before Jeremy Vine took over.
He has now revealed he is battling prostate cancer.
Some personal news……I've been diagnosed with Stage IV advanced prostate cancer I'm fortunate to have a simply outstanding medical team looking after me, who I can't thank enough - they are administering the best possible care with expertise, compassion and sensitivity. — Dermot Murnaghan (@DermotMurnaghan) June 23, 2025
Sky News' Dermot Murnaghan reveals cancer diagnosis
Taking to X, (formerly Twitter), he said: "Some personal news……I've been diagnosed with Stage IV advanced prostate cancer I'm fortunate to have a simply outstanding medical team looking after me, who I can't thank enough - they are administering the best possible care with expertise, compassion and sensitivity.
"I'm responding positively to their excellent treatment and feeling well. I'm blessed to be fortified by the monumental love and support of my wife, family and close friends.
"Needless to say my message to all men over 50, in high-risk groups, or displaying symptoms, is get yourself tested and campaign for routine prostate screening by the NHS.
"Early detection is crucial. And be aware, this disease can sometimes progress rapidly without obvious symptoms.
"I'm aiming to take part in Sir Chris Hoy's fundraising charity bike ride in Glasgow in September - please support it and join us if you can. Take care, everyone, Dermot."
Support floods in after Dermot Murnaghan reveals cancer battle
A number of people rushed to send support to the newsreader.
One said: "I'm so sorry to hear this. Sending you love and all the best for your healing journey. I've always loved your work.
"Thank you for raising awareness and thinking of others at this difficult personal time."
Another added: "Sad to hear this Dermot but it sounds like you have a terrific family and support network and a great desire to battle through. Best wishes."
A third said: "So sorry to hear this, Dermot. Wishing you all the best."
Recommended reading:
Dermot Murnaghan has been a news presenter at a number of different publishers, including CNBC Europe, Independent Television News (ITN) and BBC News.
He presented different news programmes on Sky News between 2007 and February 2023.
Murnaghan presented the afternoon rolling coverage live for Sky News when the monarch Queen Elizabeth II died.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News
a day ago
- Sky News
Wes Streeting admits improving GP services will be a challenge but is one he will 'take on the chin'
Improving NHS GP services will be a challenge but it is one the health secretary will take "on the chin", he told Sky News. The government launched its 10-year plan for the NHS on Thursday, including moving care into the community, digitising the service and focusing on prevention rather than sickness. Labour pledged in its manifesto to "build an NHS fit for the future", including cutting waiting times and the "return of the family doctor". But since coming to power last July, 62 GP surgeries have closed, and 5.8 million people a month waited more than 14 days to see a GP compared with 5.4 million in the same period last year. Health Secretary Wes Streeting told Sky News health correspondent Ashish Joshi: "I take your challenge on the chin about trying to stop practices from closing, trying to stop GPs leaving the profession and to make sure people have an improving experience in general practice. "That's why neighbourhood health is such a big part of the plan. "When I'm reporting back on progress, whether on GPs recruited or the fact NHS waiting lists are the lowest levels in two years, it's not because I think jobs done, I'm not trying to do victory laps or overclaim what we've managed to do. "It's more to report back to a sceptical public that actually, we are moving finally in the right direction. "But I don't doubt for a moment there is more to do and I take that challenge really seriously because we can't succeed without GPs and the NHS will not survive and thrive without bringing back that family doctor relationship." 4:56 Earlier, Sir Keir Starmer said the 10-year plan's aim is to shift care away from under-pressure medical facilities and closer to people's homes, while taking measures to prevent people needing treatment in the first place. Core elements of his plan include a hugely enhanced NHS app to give patients more control over their care and access to more data, new neighbourhood health centres open six days a week and at least 12 hours a day, and new laws on food and alcohol to prevent ill health. He said the government had already done much to turn things around, with new staff in mental health and general practice, 170 new diagnostic services, new surgical hubs, mental health units, ambulance sites, and "record investment right across the system". But he added: "I'm not going to stand here and say everything is perfect now - we have a lot more work to do, and we will do it. "Because of the fair choices we made, the tough Labour decisions we made, the future already looks better for the NHS."
Sky News
2 days ago
- Sky News
Kush – the deadly drug wreaking havoc in West Africa
👉 Listen to Sky News Daily on your podcast app 👈 The synthetic drug kush, first seen in Sierra Leone in 2022, has now spread into much of West Africa while also evolving into an even more dangerous drug. Tests have found it contains nitazenes, which are 25 times stronger than fentanyl. Sky News has found that ingredients used to make kush are being shipped into Sierra Leone from the UK. In today's Sky News Daily, Gareth Barlow is joined by our Africa correspondent, Yousra Elbagir, who has spoken to addicts and those trying to tackle the problem. Producer: Emily Hulme
Sky News
2 days ago
- Sky News
Teens unable to walk, mothers with rash-covered babies: How the drug kush is ruining lives
A red shipping container sits on the tarmac of Sierra Leone's Queen Elizabeth II Quay, under swinging cranes and towering stacks of similar steel boxes. This one will likely be parked at the port permanently. The contents are suspected to be the ingredients of kush, the deadly synthetic drug ravaging Sierra Leone. Sky News was given access to the container two weeks after it was seized. "Preliminary testing has shown that these items are kush ingredients," says the secretary of the Ports Authority, Martin George, as he points to the marked contraband in massive multicoloured Amazon UK bags and a large blue vat of strongly smelling acetone. He adds: "Shipped from the United Kingdom." The container was selected for screening based on its origin. The UK is with the EU and South America on the list of places considered high risk for the import of illicit substances fuelling the drug trade in Sierra Leone and the region. Kush has shaken this part of West Africa to its core - not just Sierra Leone but Liberia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and the Gambia. It is highly addictive, ever-evolving and affordable. The sprayed grey-green marshmallow leaves are rolled in a joint like marijuana and are extremely dangerous. Samples of the drug tested by researchers contained nitazenes, one of the deadliest synthetic drugs in the world. "It was a shock to find them in around half of the kush samples we tested, as at that point there was no public evidence they had reached Africa," says Lucia Bird Ruiz-Benitez de Lugo from Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime (GI-TOC) who independently tested kush from Sierra Leone. "Nitazenes are among the deadliest drugs available on retail drug markets across the world - with one nitazene in kush in Freetown being 25 times stronger than fentanyl," she added. The shocking effects of its potency can be seen on the bodies of young men and women around Freetown. Teenagers with sores eating away at their legs, unable to walk. Mothers who smoked during pregnancy carrying sickly rash-covered infants. Young men drooling from the intense high and slumped over while still standing. They are not the fringes of Sierra Leonean society but a growing demographic of kush users searching for an escape. People riddled by poverty and unemployment, living in the dark corners of a capital city which has endured a brutal civil war and Ebola epidemic in the last three decades alone. An entire community of men and women of all ages is held together by kush addiction under a main road that cuts through the heart of Freetown. They call themselves the "Under de Bridge family" and live in the shadows of the overpass, surrounded by the sewage and rubbish discarded by their neighbours. One of them tells us the harsh conditions drive him to keep smoking kush even after losing more than 10 friends to the drug - killed by large infected sores and malnutrition. Nearby, 17-year-old Ibrahim is pained by growing sores and says the drug is destroying his life. "This drug is evil. This drug is bad. I don't know why they gave me this drug in this country. Our brothers are suffering. Some are dying, some have sores on their feet. This drug brings destruction," he says. "Look at me - just because of this drug. I have sores on my feet." Across a stream of sewage, a young mother expecting her second child cries from fear and anguish when I ask her about the risk of smoking while pregnant. "Yes, I know the risk," Elizabeth says, nodding. "I'll keep smoking while I live here but I have nowhere else to go. It helps me forget my worries and challenges." Life under the bridge is disrupted from its sleepiness by a yell. A plain-clothed police officer is chasing a child accused of selling kush. The lucrative industry is absorbing all age groups and spreading rapidly to nearby countries - even passing through three different borders to reach the smallest nation in mainland Africa, The Gambia. 2:53 Gambian law enforcement has cracked down on spreading kush use with regular zero tolerance drug raids. The small population is extremely vulnerable and the country is yet to open its first rehabilitation centre. Rising xenophobia seems to be mostly directed at Sierra Leonean immigrants who they blame for smuggling kush into the country. We spoke to one man from Sierra Leone who was arrested for dealing kush in The Gambia and spent a year in prison. He says that though he feels saddened other Sierra Leoneans are being alienated as a result of the trade he was involved in, he has no remorse for "following orders". "Do I feel guilty for selling it? No, I don't feel guilty. I'm not using my money to buy the kush, people always give me money to get kush for them," he tells Sky News anonymously. "I needed a job. I needed to take care of my son." Gambia's hardline approach has been credited with driving its local kush industry underground rather than eradicating it but is still hailed as the most impactful strategy in the region. Sierra Leone's government told Sky News it needs help from surrounding countries and the UK to tackle the sprawling crisis. Transnational crime experts like Lucia Bird Ruiz-Benitez de Lugo see the rise of kush as part of a global synthetic drugs network that requires a multi-national response. "Coordinated action is urgently needed across the supply chain, particularly focused on nitazenes - the deadliest kush component," says Ms Bird. "Our research indicated that kush components are being imported to West Africa from countries in Asia and Europe, likely including the UK. All countries in the supply chain bear responsibility to act to mitigate the devastating and expanding impacts of kush across West Africa, a region with scarce resources to respond." Sky News' Africa correspondent wins award Yousra Elbagir has been named a winner of the International Women's Media Foundation 2025 Courage in Journalism Awards. She has chronicled the current war in Sudan, which has displaced more than 13 million people, including her own family. Recently, Elbagir led the only television news crew to document the fall of Goma - the regional capital of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo - to M23 rebels backed by Rwanda. In the past year, her reports from the frontlines of Sudan's war have broadcast massive scenes of devastation inside a global humanitarian crisis. She said: "Our job as journalists is to reveal the truth and inform the public. Sometimes, it's about exposing the misdeeds of the powerful. Other times, it's about capturing the scale and depth of human suffering. Our job is also getting more difficult: Information wars and contempt for legacy media is growing by the day, which makes our job even more important." Elbagir added: "It is an honour to receive the IWMF Courage Award and join the ranks of such incredible women journalists. The courage to share the truth in our polarised world is at the heart of public service journalism and to be recognised for it is truly affirming - it gives me faith that people are listening."
