Reggie Yates underwent secret surgery to remove tumour
BBC presenter Reggie Yates has revealed he underwent surgery to remove a tumour from his hand a year ago but he decided to keep the health scare private and attempt to "hide and move on" from the experience.
Reggie Yates underwent surgery in secret to remove a tumour from his hand.
The 42-year-old BBC Presenter has revealed he went through a serious health scare last year but he decided to keep it private and attempt to "hide and move on" from the experience.
However, he has now opened up about what he went through after realising he had "buried" the memories. In a post on Substack, Yates explained: " In 2025, I’d endured one of the hardest moments of my adult life and overcome it. But for some reason, I’d chosen to bury it.
"Not forget it, hide it. Tell no one, and file it away as ‘a thing that happened’. Call it repression or dissociative amnesia, I felt pride for overcoming the gut punch, but given its scale, I’d chosen to heal, move on and ignore the scar."
He went on to open up about the operation and the nervous wait to find out if the tumour was cancerous.
Yates added: "I was wearing my own little lump of uncertainty. A Tumour. A collection of cells that could be benign or cancerous. Then followed a fun week of waiting to find out which version of lump my body decided to grow ... Minutes before surgery, I chose to fake the brave face. To be fair to myself, it’s hard not to crack dad jokes when you’re wearing compression socks and tiny paper panties.
"It’ s impossible not to laugh at your man cakes hanging out the back of your surgery gown … even if you’re scared."
He went on to write: "You learn a lot about yourself when you can’t do the things you’ve unknowingly made part of your identity. The things that you tell yourself make you who you are ...
"You learn a lot about your loved ones, when you’re the one who needs help - particularly if you’re the lynch pin. Especially if you’re Mr. strong silent …
"You learn a lot about who you’re becoming when you go from fears of losing the use of your hand in February, to delivering your publisher a novel typed by that same hand in December … "
Yates concluded his post by adding: "This year, I encourage you to leave the promises behind and celebrate the battles won. Embrace the things you didn’t plan for … be they trophies … or tumours."
