Michael Douglas has revealed he lied about the type of cancer he was diagnosed with, after surgeons told him he could lose part of his jaw and his tongue.
Michael previously told the media he was battling throat cancer, but he has now admitted he was actually diagnosed with tongue cancer.
Michael Douglas
The actor made the revelation while being interviewed by his friend Samuel L Jackson as part of This Morning's Male Cancer Awareness Week.
"This was right before I had to go on a big tour for 'Wall Street 4' so we kind of said there’s no way we can cancel the tour and say we don’t feel well... You've got to tell them," he said. "So you know, I said you've just got to come out and just tell them I've got cancer and that’s that.
"But, the surgeon said let’s just say it’s throat cancer. I said ‘OK, you don’t want to say it’s tongue cancer?’, I said ‘why’s that?’ and he said ‘well, if you really want to know why, if we do have to have surgery it’s not going to be pretty. You'll lose part of you jaw and your tongue and all of that stuff. So I said, ‘OK sure’..."
Recalling how he felt 'numb' when the news was delivered, he said, "I had an inkling... particularly when I saw the look on his face. It kind of all rushes over you, you get a little numb…very numb.
"I said ‘Stage four?’...That’s where I got a little scared," he added.
The full interview with Michael airs on 'This Morning' on Thursday (10 October) at 10.30am.
