Greg James has pleaded with his followers for extra support this week after his dad was admitted to intensive care.
The BBC Radio 1 DJ, 40, begins his latest Red Nose Day challenge on Friday, which involves cycling 630 miles (1,000km) across the UK on a tandem bike over eight days.
Beginning in Weymouth and finishing in Edinburgh, The Longest Ride is Greg’s most ambitious fundraiser yet, marking his third endurance challenge after he came ‘out of challenge retirement’ to hopefully continue his tradition of raising over six figures.
However, just days before the launch, Greg’s family has taken a huge knock, as his dad suffered a stroke during a scheduled heart operation this week.
Taking to Instagram, the broadcaster put on a brave face as he issued an update, having also been absent from his Breakfast Show hosting duties on Friday.
‘Here’s a video which is more serious than I like to be on here, but I just wanted to update you on what’s [been] going on the last few days of my life,’ he began, showing himself to be out in the woods on a dog walk.
‘I’ve had a terrible time. My dad’s not very well. Not very well at all. And it’s horrible,’ Greg admitted.
‘You might have heard Sam and Danni talk about this on the Breakfast Show on Friday, because I wasn’t there. They were very lovely about it; they told lots of you, and thank you for sending me a message if you did. It’s massively appreciated.’
He added that, ‘in times like these, it’s so nice to feel the love from people,’ urging anyone with a friend in a similar situation to simply ‘send a message, because it’s a nice thing to do.’
Going into further details, he then explained: ‘And for those that don’t know what’s happened to my dad, I’m sorry that you’re finding out on my wildly popular social media channels.
‘He was supposed to go, well, he did go in for heart surgery on Thursday, and I was on the Breakfast Show on Thursday because I thought, “That’s a good distraction.”
‘I’m always banging on about how great radio is at distracting you from your life and things going to s**t. It’s good for listeners, and it’s good for the people doing it as well. So, I was happy on Thursday. I thought, “That’s the best place for me.” I love doing that.
‘And then on Thursday night, we found out that, sadly, the operation didn’t go to plan, and he had a stroke. Which is really s**t.’
Greg said his dad is ‘not really there at the minute, and that’s the hardest bit.’
He went to visit him in the ICU with other relatives over the weekend, keen to heap praise on the ‘amazing’ NHS doctors, nurses, physios, and surgeons who have taken care of his dad.
‘Particularly the handsome doctor that he’s having by his bedside,’ Greg cheekily added in his list of thank yous.
‘That’s one of the mad things, isn’t it, about your brain and about humans and about life, is that sometimes the best thing is to be in a WhatsApp group where you’re just talking about how fit the doctor is. And that’s really helped.’
‘Hope he doesn’t see this, because then it’s gonna be awkward when I next go in,’ the presenter joked.
He concluded by noting that it’s ‘good to share these things’ because ‘life isn’t plain sailing.’
Still, he’s determined to ‘carry on’ with his challenge, for which his dad has been a huge cheerleader.
‘I’m gonna come back on the Breakfast Show tomorrow, mainly because that’s what my dad will want me to do; it’s also what I wanna do,’ he insisted.
‘And also, he really wanted me to do this challenge, which is coming on Friday, so I’ve been training my t**s off for it, and he knows that, and he knows how much it means to me, so this Comic Relief challenge, 1,000km on a tandem, from Weymouth to Edinburgh, I’m up for it.’
As for where things stand currently and whether the challenge might be called off, Greg said he’s pushing on ‘pending something horrible happening this week.’
‘But he’s steady at the minute, and I guess slowly but surely improving a bit, but it’s pretty f***ing bleak.’
‘So, have Big Al in your thoughts,’ Greg signed off. ‘And I’m gonna really need some support on this challenge. I know I was anyway, but it’s gonna be extra emotional now, so hopefully I can count on you to be there.’
The comments section was soon flooded with well-wishes from the likes of Dan Walker, Dean McCullough, and Arielle Free.
‘Oh love I’m so sorry to hear this. Sending all my love to you and your family xxx’, commented Lauren Laverne.
‘We love you man! Keep your head up. Xx’, said Joel Dommett.
‘Bless your heart for having humor sometimes it’s the only way to get through it🙏🏼❤️🩹’, added music icon Anastacia.
Greg’s dad, whose name is Alan Milward, has long been his son’s biggest fan and has even co-hosted on Radio 1 with him.
Speaking to The Sun in 2018, he shared that the best advice he’s ever been given came from his dad, who told him not to take life ‘so seriously.’
‘He tells me to enjoy everything, as it’s all wonderful nonsense. I try to think about that all the time.’
And in a joint interview in 2019, the proud father told GQ that his son has clearly always been destined for an early morning radio gig.
‘He used to wake up at about 4am, and I spent many, many, many early hours with him resting across my chest trying to get him to sleep,’ he said of Greg’s earliest moments. ‘But clearly it didn’t work because his first slot on Radio 1 was at 4am.’
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