- Have YOU got a story? Email tips@dailymail.co.uk
- See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source
Russell Watson has revealed his pituitary gland has miraculously repaired itself in a 'one in a million chance' health development after battling two brain tumours.
The opera singer, 59, was told the devastating news he had a brain tumour the size of two golf balls after noticing his peripheral vision had become blurry in 2006.
Following a trip to LA, he underwent a five-hour emergency operation to remove the eight-centimetre tumour at St George's Hospital in Tooting – before overcoming a second diagnosis and surgery a year later.
The tumour, which sits at the base of his brain, caused significant damage to his pituitary gland, and for years he had been told the damage to the gland would not recover.
However, appearing on The One Show on Monday evening, Russell was back on the famous couch to share some 'brilliant news' to hosts Alex Jones and Roman Kemp.
He said: 'Basically, I have to take steroids to stay alive, so I did a bit of research, rang my endocrinologist, and told them I was really struggling with keeping weight off, and is there a test I can do to find out whether I am taking too much of the steroids.
Russell Watson has revealed his pituitary gland has miraculously repaired itself in a 'one in a million chance' health development after battling two brain tumours
The opera singer, 59, was told the devastating news he had a brain tumour the size of two golf balls after noticing his peripheral vision had become blurry in 2006 (pictured in 2007)
'In a nutshell, she rang me up and said that this is like a one-in-a-million chance, but you have started to produce your own cortisol, which is the body's stress hormones.'
Continuing, Russell said: 'So I've cut my steroids in half, I went back for another test this week, and I have been told I can cut those in half… it may end up, at the end of it, that I might not need to take the steroids anymore.'
The singer then added: 'I am really pleased. Some good health news; it's about time!'
Last year, Russell revealed he briefly considered suicide as he struggled with the agonising pain of a brain tumour.
The tenor said he contemplated jumping from a hotel balcony and admitted it was only the thought of his two young daughters being left without a dad that pulled him back from the brink.
Speaking to Kaye Adams on her How To Be 60 podcast, the singer – the UK’s best-selling classical artist of all time – said: 'My whole world came crashing down and the pain got worse – everything was exacerbated with the news of what he’d just told me.
'I was staying in a hotel in Beverly Hills and I was on the eighth floor and it was the first time I’d ever felt this way.
'I can’t explain the pain – I’ve never felt anything like it before or since – it was like a dagger being pressed into the centre of my head and twisted.'
Appearing on The One Show on Monday evening, Russell was back on the famous couch to share some 'brilliant news' to hosts Alex Jones and Roman Kemp
Russell described the recovery of his pituitary function as rare, given that such recovery was not thought of as a possibility
He added: 'It was excruciating and for one moment I stood on my hotel balcony. I literally just thought: "f**k this, I’ve had enough." And I felt like jumping.
'And then the thought of the children entered my head and they were little girls then - they’re not going to manage without me. Back in the room. Went and lay on the bed, rinsed my face with cold water and took the pain on.'
Russell has openly spoken about his brain tumour battle over the years.
His 2024 book Encore: My journey back to centre stage, talks about his return to the limelight following the terrifying battle.
In the years following his diagnosis, he battled crippling treatment, lifesaving operations, HRT therapy and mental health struggles – before being told he would likely never sing again.
He said: 'My diagnosis changed everything – all I could think about was how my wife and daughters would survive without me.
'It was difficult to see beyond my illness at the time, but to be alive and healthy 15 years later is something I'm eternally grateful for.
'Often when we are writing wills we think about those closest to us. But a will, much like a piece of music, has the power to touch the lives of so many more.
'I want others to receive the kind of life-saving treatment that I did, to give that gift of time for which I'm so grateful every day.'
And in 2018, he spoke candidly about his harrowing experience, admitting he has to take a 'cocktail of drugs' every day to keep himself alive.
The performer admitted he used to 'panic he would die in his sleep', after doctors discovered a tumour had returned on his pituitary gland back in 2007.
'Initially it was a minefield, because I was taking this whole cocktail of drugs to stay alive,' he told Best Magazine.
'It used to get me down, I would get very depressed.
'I'd go to bed at night but wouldn't be able to get to sleep – I'd panic because I thought I would die if I fell asleep.'
The previous year, Russell told This Morning that while he was in the midst of conquering the second tumour, he believed he'd died.
He said: 'When I came round after the second op, I remember my eyes flickering open and I saw two white shadows and thought, I did make it to heaven that’s nice.
'Then I realised it was the kids and there were tears streaming down my face.'
For confidential support, call Samaritans on 116 123, visit samaritans.org or visit https://www.thecalmzone.net/get-support