Soho House founder Nick Jones feared prostate cancer would kill him as he reveals only wife Kirsty Young knew the truth about his secret battle to live

Soho House founder Nick Jones has revealed how he feared prostate cancer would kill him and the only person he confided in about his secret battle for life was his wife.

The 60-year-old, who founded the exclusive members club on London’s Greek Street in 1995 and went on to create a sprawling global empire that attracts the likes of Harry and Meghan, was diagnosed with cancer in June 2022.

The entrepreneur has now shared his survival story, including how he only opened up to his wife Kirsty Young, the TV and radio presenter and former host of Desert Islands Discs, about his struggles.

Just over a year after the life-saving surgery, Jones said The times: ‘I kept it very much to myself. I continued working. I went into another room and was told my results while I was in the middle of a meeting.

‘The only person who knew was Kirsty; she came to all the meetings. It was a very disturbing time.”

But as the Soho House mogul confided in his wife, she was just emerging from her own health crisis. Ms. Young was forced to take a step back from her career as she suffered from chronic, debilitating pain caused by rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia.

Jones said it was extremely difficult to see his wife in so much pain, but described her as “heroic and quiet” in dealing with it.

Ms Young has made a sensational return to work, fronting the Platinum Jubilee in 2022 and reporting on the Queen’s death on the BBC. She also hosts a new podcast called Young Again, where she’s spoken to the likes of Jamie Oliver about what they would tell their younger selves.

Jones said he finds it incredibly interesting to have a talented interviewer as a wife and that he owes much of his fortune at Soho House to her.

They first met in 1998 when Mrs Young was staying at Babington House in Somerset, the first rural Soho House.

Their relationship began just six months after Jones split from his first wife Tania, with whom he shares two children: Natasha, 30, and Oliver, 28. He also has two daughters with Ms Young, Iona, 17, and Freya, 22, who recently he became a grandfather.

Jones, who kept his secret battle to himself, didn’t tell his children when he was diagnosed with cancer.

He says he didn’t want to worry them, especially because of the power of the word “cancer.” However, he immediately told them when the cancer had been successfully removed.

Jones previously told The Mail that he didn’t even know exactly where his prostate was, or what its function was, until he was diagnosed with a large and aggressive tumor on the gland, which needed to be urgently removed.

The Soho House mogul lost both his mother and father to lung cancer and pancreatic cancer respectively. Their deaths at the ages of 63 and 72 have kept him always alert to the disease – and he often has blood tests done.

It was summer last year when doctors sent him for an MRI after a blood test showed Jones’ PSA (prostate-specific antigen) levels were “a little variable.” The MRI found a ‘very significant, very aggressive’ tumor.

Since having his prostate removed last September, Jones has been given the all-clear and is now trying to raise awareness of the disease, including writing to all Soho House members to encourage men to get it checked. More than 12,000 men die from prostate cancer every year in Britain – something he believes can be reduced if caught early.

“What happens is that men often die of shame,” he told The Times. “Or they have the treatment done quietly and don’t want people downstairs to think they have problems.”

Jones said he doesn’t want to be an individual sob story, but he was afraid he was going to die.

Last November, Jones stepped down as CEO of Soho House owner Membership Collective Group after recovering from his cancer.

He passed the reins to current group chairman Andrew Carnie. New York-listed parent company MCG is now worth £233 million, with more than 40 locations around the world and 211,000 members. It includes 38 Soho homes, The Ned in London and New York and Scorpios Beach Club in Mykonos.

Hugh Grant, Jude Law, Madonna, Kylie Minogue and Nicole Kidman are all among the celebrities spotted at Soho House, attracting crowds in media circles.

The Dean Street branch, which opened in 2015, was the location chosen for Prince Harry and Meghan’s first date. Jones was a guest at their wedding while his wife covered the ceremony for the BBC.

When asked if he was still friends with the royal family, he replied: “I know them, yes.”

Speaking about his new reduced role in the company, he told The Mail: ‘We have a brilliant new CEO, Andrew Carnie, who is doing all the heavy lifting. I’m still on the bus, but I don’t drive anymore. I encourage, am creative, design and open new homes.

‘As a CEO in the catering industry you are employed almost 24/7, but that is not my responsibility now. I worked hard, put in long hours to build the houses, but nothing is possible without good health, and that is why men must all be vigilant. We all have to take care of ourselves.

‘And yes, I want to spend more time with the family, play a lot more tennis – even though I hate it – and go for walks with Kirsty in the countryside near our house in Oxfordshire.’

Ahead of his 60th birthday last month, he said: ‘At my age you have a lot of great things to look forward to. The whole thing fades away.

“If you deserve to have both feet on the ground, you don’t want to struggle with illness.

‘Men should not wait until prostate cancer has spread and symptoms have been identified. They have to be proactive. We have to get the death rate down.

‘I know now that I’m not going to die from prostate cancer because I don’t have one.’

The ice blue eyes crinkle in a smile. “I’m happy to say I can cross that off the list of concerns.”