Louis Walsh has revealed that he was undergoing chemotherapy when he agreed to appear in a new documentary about Boyzone, the boyband he founded in 1993.
Despite his long-standing feud with the group, the X Factor judge made the decision to participate in the documentary while simultaneously battling a rare form of cancer.
Last year, the 72-year-old revealed he was diagnosed with waldenstrom macroglobulinaemia, a type of blood cancer, during an appearance on Celebrity Big Brother, reports the Mirror.
In a candid conversation with housemates Levi Roots and Ekin-Su, Louis discussed his experience with the disease, stating that it was a "reality check" that had a profound impact on his mental health.
He recalled the shock of receiving his diagnosis, saying: "“I was sick, and I think nobody knew I was sick. I had cancer – a mild version, a rare one, in my blood.
"I didn't even know I had it until I went to the hospital. They checked me and then they found it."
Louis admitted that the experience had left him with a lasting fear of hospitals, but emphasised that he has since made a full recovery.
Reflecting on the experience, Louis said, "It's just up here, even when I go past a hospital I almost get sick. It's all gone, I'm fine. It was just the shock of being sick and that word – nobody wants that word.
“I have it blocked out, a reality check .You see so many people sick and it’s terrible. In my world it was all about pop music and all that. I didn’t think of anybody getting sick or anything like that.
"And that was like, wow, reality check – you’re in the real world.”
After his participation in the Boyzone documentary, a source disclosed to MailOnline that he was "really ill at the time but made the effort to appear on the programme."
They continued: "He was having chemo for his blood cancer, so wasn't looking his best and it really took it out of him."
The source also mentioned: "You will see in the documentary that he complains he is tired, but when Louis makes a commitment he stands by it."
In the three-part series, Louis doesn't hold back, making several explosive remarks as he and Boyzone members Ronan Keating, Shane Lynch, Keith Duffy, and Mikey Graham open up about the acrimonious split and subsequent feud.
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