Struggling with grief is something that Jake Quickenden has had to deal with throughout his life and it's not a topic he shies away from. The singer and reality TV star, 36, was left devastated after his dad died in 2009 from myeloma and then, four years later, tragedy hit again when his younger brother Oliver died aged 19 from bone cancer. But he has used that heartbreak and grief as a driving force to spread awareness and raise money for charity, going on to complete tough challenges and face the awkwardness of having a testicular examination live on TV.
Yet he is very aware of his own mortality and tells the Mirror that he has become "a bit of a hypochondriac" - and fears not being able to watch his children grow up. Jake - who is dad to toddler Leo and is expecting a second son with wife Sophie - says: "I get checked, blood checked..
. I’m a bit of a hypocondriac - I think it’s a bit of health anxiety myself because I worry that cancer’s in my family. My mum suffered from skin cancer, my dad passed away from myeloma, Oliver passed away from osteoscarcoma, my uncle had cancer, my grandma passed away from cancer, so it’s there.
"Me and my older brother have a running joke - who’s it gonna get next, me or you? It’s not something to really laugh about but it’s dark humour and you deal with it that way. But it’s a worry that one day it will also get me and I don’t want to leave my mum. I also am a dad now and I want to watch my kids grow up but I want to be th.