LOVE ISLAND’S CHRIS HUGHES: WAKE-UP CALL TO THINK ABOUT OUR HEALTH

When someone close to us gets cancer, it can be a wake-up call to pay a bit more attention to our own health. However, Love Island’s Chris Hughes doesn’t think it should be this way.

“It shouldn’t be like that, where it takes somebody in your family to actually get cancer to kick you all into gear. We want people checking themselves and for that to be completely normal, really. We want to be proactive, not reactive,” says the 28-year-old model who also presents on ITV Racing.

Back in 2018, Hughes underwent a live testicular examination on ITV’s This Morning, to highlight how important and easy it is to check for anything unusual. Many viewers were inspired to check as a result – including Hughes’ brother Ben, who found a lump the next day and was then diagnosed with the disease.

Ben, who is now cancerfree, credited his brother for saving his life. The pair went on to make a BBC documentary – Me, My Brother And Our Balls – in which they also explored male infertility (Ben’s treatment affected his sperm production), and the mental health impact of these issues.

The most common cancer in young men, around 2500 cases of testicular cancer are diagnosed each year in the UK and Ireland. If caught early, it’s easily treatable with a 95% survival rate. “But that’s not really comforting to the one in 20 who doesn’t survive,” says Gloucestershire-born Hughes, who came third in 2017’s Love Island.

And KP Nuts did some research which showed a third of men don’t check themselves for lumps and bumps the recommended once a month, and 9% said they’d never checked themselves. Still more concerning, a fifth don’t know how to check themselves.

“When you’re in the bath or shower is the easiest time, and it’s important people check regularly because then you know what you’re feeling for; if you find something that doesn’t feel natural to what you’ve felt before, you know then to get it checked out,” explains Hughes.

“And you also know, for your own peace of mind, [if it is cancer] you’ve caught it early.”

And here’s how to check your balls for lumps

Movember suggests giving your testicles a bit of a feel each month while in the bath or shower, it takes just minutes to do. Roll one testicle between thumb and fingers to get to know what’s normal and repeat with the other one. If you notice a change in size or shape, a lump that wasn’t there before, or if they are painful to touch, see a doctor.

■ Chris Hughes has teamed up with KP Nuts and Movember to encourage men to ‘check their nuts’.