Taskmaster champion Richard Herring has revealed that he has been diagnosed with cancer for a second time, four years after receiving the all-clear following treatment for testicular cancer.
The comedian, 58, told fans that he has hairy cell leukaemia, a rare and slow-growing form of blood cancer that affects white blood cells produced inside the bone marrow.
Richard shared the difficult news in his latest Substack post, using his familiar dark humour to explain both the seriousness of the diagnosis and the reassuring outlook doctors have given him.
“Let me give you the bad news first. I have cancer again,” he wrote.
“Not ball cancer this time. I can’t afford to lose another one of those — though I will be doing my show The Male Eunuch if it does happen.”
He continued: “This time I have blood cancer. And God is determined to make sure I get the funniest cancers possible, and this one is called hairy cell leukaemia.”
Richard explained that the condition is generally described as incurable because abnormal cells can remain in the body or return after treatment.
However, he reassured followers that the cancer is highly treatable and that patients can often experience long periods of remission.
“The other bad news is that it is incurable,” he said.
“The good news is that it’s entirely treatable and will not kill me.”
Richard added that the treatment itself carried a small risk, but immediately turned the frightening detail into another joke.
“The treatment has a tiny chance of killing me, but so has loading the dishwasher, so don’t worry about it,” he wrote.
The comedian revealed that he has already started chemotherapy and said there were no immediate complications following his first day of treatment.
He also praised the care he received through the NHS while describing the experience for his readers.
Richard explained that his diagnosis did not arrive completely without warning.
Doctors first discovered a small number of abnormal cells in his bone marrow approximately 12 years ago.
At the time, the cells did not appear to be increasing or causing significant problems.
He underwent regular monitoring for five years before a doctor reportedly told him that the condition was unlikely to develop into anything serious.
Richard admitted that he then largely forgot about the abnormal findings until he recently spoke to doctors again.
“They found a few of the cells in my bone marrow about 12 years ago, but it didn’t get any worse,” he explained.
“After five years of being tested, the doctor said it was probably going to be OK.”
However, further medical assessment has now confirmed that Richard has hairy cell leukaemia.
The rare cancer develops when the bone marrow creates too many abnormal B-cell lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell that ordinarily helps the immune system fight infection.
Under a microscope, the malignant cells have thin projections around their edges, giving them the “hairy” appearance from which the disease takes its name.
As the abnormal cells accumulate, they can interfere with the production of healthy red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets.
This may lead to symptoms including severe tiredness, dizziness, frequent infections, easy bleeding or bruising and unexplained weight loss.
Some patients also develop an enlarged spleen, which can cause discomfort or a feeling of fullness in the abdomen.
However, because the condition often progresses slowly, it may be discovered during routine blood testing before obvious symptoms develop.
Diagnosis can involve blood tests, examination of blood cells under a microscope and a bone-marrow biopsy.
Although hairy cell leukaemia is rarely considered permanently curable, treatment can be highly effective.
Many patients achieve long-lasting remission and continue to have a normal or near-normal life expectancy.
Richard appeared determined not to allow the word “incurable” to dominate his outlook.
Instead, he joked that the diagnosis would provide him with an excuse to avoid unwanted social engagements and professional commitments.
“I will, of course, be using the fact that I have incurable cancer for all it’s worth for the rest of my hopefully long life,” he wrote.
“I can get out of doing other people’s podcasts, any social event I don’t fancy and also set up a JustGiving page with me with a sad face, hugging my kids and asking for money to help them once I’m gone.”
He quickly clarified that he was joking and would simply omit the reassuring detail that the condition is treatable.
Richard also confirmed that his latest diagnosis is not connected to the testicular cancer for which he underwent surgery in 2021.
“It’s not linked to the testicular cancer,” he said.
“Someone up there just doesn’t like me. But they don’t hate me that much.”
He added: “So keep giving me the flimsiest and easiest to live with and funniest-named cancers available.”
The comic joked that receiving cancer twice risked making him appear as though he were seeking attention.
“To have one cancer elicits sympathy, but getting two starts to look a bit like attention-seeking,” he wrote.
“At least get a properly dangerous one if you’re going to make a big deal about it. I feel a bit embarrassed about it.”
Richard first revealed his testicular cancer diagnosis in early 2021.
He underwent surgery at Lister Hospital in Stevenage on February 24 that year after doctors discovered a suspicious mass.
The affected testicle was removed before detailed laboratory analysis confirmed the cancer diagnosis.
In typical Richard fashion, he announced the operation with a mock obituary for the body part he had lost.
“RIP my right b***ock,” he wrote.
“July 12, 1967, to February 24, 2021. Age shall not wither him — he was quite withered already, at least until the last few weeks. He shall be missed.”
Doctors later confirmed that the cancer had been contained within the testicle and had not spread elsewhere in his body.
Richard was subsequently given the all-clear.
He reflected at the time on the strange combination of misfortune and luck involved in receiving a relatively uncommon cancer that was also considered highly curable.
“How unlucky was I to get a fairly rare cancer without exhibiting any of the usual causes?” he asked.
“But then how lucky was I to get the one that is basically curable?”
Testicular cancer is less common than many other forms of the disease and most frequently affects men aged between 15 and 49.
Common signs can include a painless lump or swelling, a change in the shape or texture of a testicle or a persistent ache.
Richard used his experience to encourage other men to seek medical advice when they notice unusual changes rather than delaying an examination through fear or embarrassment.
His latest diagnosis presents a very different medical challenge.
Rather than a tumour that could be removed surgically, hairy cell leukaemia involves abnormal cells circulating through the blood and bone marrow.
The condition may require chemotherapy or other targeted treatment to reduce the cancerous cells and restore healthier blood counts.
Richard’s disclosure was characteristically candid, blending serious information with jokes designed to reassure his audience.
Behind the humour, however, was the reality of beginning another course of cancer treatment only a few years after believing the disease was behind him.
The comedian is best known for his extensive stand-up career and his appearances on Taskmaster.
He competed in the tenth series of the Channel 4 comedy programme in 2020 and emerged as the overall winner.
Richard later returned for the second Champion of Champions special, competing against fellow series winners Ed Gamble, Kerry Godliman, Liza Tarbuck and Lou Sanders.
He claimed victory once again, cementing his place among the programme’s most successful contestants.
Over his long career, Richard has written and performed 14 one-man shows and co-created the television sitcom Time Gentlemen Please.
He is also known for his long-running interview series, Richard Herring’s Leicester Square Theatre Podcast, which has featured leading figures from British comedy and entertainment.
His health announcement prompted messages of support from fans, many of whom praised his ability to discuss cancer without losing his distinctive comic voice.
While Richard made clear that his condition cannot simply be removed and forgotten, he emphasised that doctors expect treatment to control it.
He has begun chemotherapy and reported no immediate problems after the initial session.
The road ahead will involve continued treatment, medical monitoring and the possibility that the disease may require further management in the future.
Yet Richard’s message was ultimately reassuring rather than despairing.
Four years after overcoming testicular cancer, he is confronting an exceptionally rare blood cancer with the same mixture of honesty, perspective and irreverent humour.
The diagnosis may be incurable in the strictest medical sense, but Richard remains hopeful that treatment will allow him to enjoy a long life — while using his new excuse to escape every unwanted podcast invitation along the way.
