As Jamie Theakston reveals throat cancer diagnosis, the stars who have survived the disease: from Top Gun star Val Kilmer to tennis star Martina Navratalova

Jamie Theakston is the latest star to reveal he has laryngeal cancer, a form of throat cancer that affects more than 2,000 Britons each year.

The 53-year-old Heart Radio presenter shared his health update on Instagram, after previously revealing he had made an appointment with a doctor after listeners noticed something was wrong with his voice.

Changes in one’s voice are one of the classic symptoms of the disease. Anyone who notices that they have had a hoarse voice for more than three weeks is urged to speak to their GP.

Throat cancer is not a medical term. Instead, doctors distinguish between two main types of cancer that develop in this part of the body.

These are cancers of the larynx, like Theakston has, and cancers of the pharynx, a hollow, muscular tube in the neck that starts behind the nose and empties into the larynx and trachea.

MailOnline profiles some other celebrities who have been diagnosed with throat cancer here.

Val Kilmer

‘Top Gun’ and ‘Batman Forever’ star Val Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2015.

Kilmer, now 64, underwent both radiation therapy and chemotherapy for his cancer, as well as a tracheostomy, a procedure in which an artificial hole was created in his neck to help him breathe.

The latter permanently damaged his vocal cords, thereby changing his voice forever.

In the Amazon Prime documentary Val, Kilmer spoke candidly about the effects of throat cancer, including having to use an electrical device called a voice box on the artificial hole in his throat to be able to speak.

“I obviously sound a lot worse than I feel. I can’t talk without closing this hole (in his throat),” he said.

A voice box is usually a battery-powered device that produces sound to create a voice. It is used to help people with throat cancer communicate.

The actor, who also has to eat through a feeding tube, explained what other challenges there are.

“You have to make the choice to breathe or to eat. It’s an obstacle that is very present in everyone who sees me,” he said.

Kilmer previously said he didn’t know he had throat cancer until one day he coughed up “clotted blood” and called an ambulance, after which he passed out.

He woke up in a Santa Monica hospital after an emergency tracheotomy for throat cancer.

Martina Navratalova

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova emotionally declared last year that she was “cancer free” after beating throat and breast cancer.

In an emotional interview with Piers Morgan, the now 67-year-old said she feared she “wouldn’t see next Christmas” and that beating the disease had been “the hardest thing ever”.

Navratilova added that her diagnosis forced her to postpone her plans to adopt a child with her wife, Julia Lemigova. She had even made a bucket list of things she wanted to do before she died.

The tennis star, who won 59 major titles in her 40-year career, announced in early 2023 that she had been diagnosed with cancer.

She had already beaten breast cancer in 2010, but feared she would not live to see Christmas 2023 if the disease returned.

The Czech-born athlete confirmed she had been diagnosed after doctors discovered an enlarged lymph node in her neck during the WTA finals in Fort Worth the previous November. Subsequent tests confirmed she had both breast and throat cancer.

She recalled: “(I think) I’ll see it this Christmas, but maybe not next Christmas.”

“Who has two cancers at once? I was never an underachiever, but this is getting ridiculous.”

But Navratilova, displaying the spirit that led her to success on the tennis court, stubbornly refused to give in: “Giving up, giving in, quitting – that’s just not an option for me. Just keep going.”

She added: “Quitting is just not in my DNA.”

The Golden Racket winner also detailed how she had to undergo a gruelling combination of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and proton therapy to become cancer-free.

He announced the results on social media, thanking everyone involved in her care and adding the words ‘f*** cancer’.

Danny Bakker

Popular radio presenter and author Danny Baker previously described how his diagnosis of mouth and throat cancer left him unable to speak for eight months.

Baker announced his diagnosis in 2011 and was not declared cancer-free until 2016.

He talked about his cancer treatment, explaining that he had to undergo intensive chemotherapy and radiation therapy, which was so extensive that he had no salivary glands left.

The treatment left the presenter barely able to eat or drink and he had a tube in his stomach so he could feed himself.

He later spoke extensively on the 2016 series of I’m A Celebrity about the impact cancer had on him and how it still persists.

“I have very few taste buds, very few salivary glands and my appetite has decreased,” he said.

He then made a shocking revelation to the camp: “I didn’t speak for eight months.”

Baker, who is married to Wendy and has three children, came to prominence in the 1970s as a writer for the music magazine New Musical Express.

The presenter, who left school at 14, got a job at NME, where he interviewed Michael Jackson.

He then became a TV presenter and teamed up with his friend Chris Evans, with whom he wrote the scripts for Evans’ show TFI Friday.

In the 1990s, Baker and Evans were regularly photographed drinking with footballer Paul Gascoigne.

Some accused Baker and Evans of misleading Gazza in the run-up to the 1998 World Cup, when the star was dropped from the England squad.

His friendship with Evans helped him cope with his illness, especially as his income dried up because he could no longer work.

In an interview he said he went to Evans and asked if he could borrow £30,000, which Evans immediately agreed to.

He paid off the debt by remortgaging his home in Deptford, south-east London.