The Wanted star talks about his struggle with cancer, saying he is doing his best to ignore the illness because he doesn't want it to 'consume' his life.
- Sep 18, 2021
AceShowbiz - Tom Parker is doing his best to "ignore" his cancer.
The Wanted star was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour almost a year ago, but he told BBC Breakfast that he isn't living his life waiting to die. Instead, he doesn't "pay it any attention."
"It's not that I'm ignoring cancer but I just don't want to pay it any attention," he explained. "The more attention you pay it, the more it consumes your life and I don't want to consume my life. I've got kids, I've got family. So I just try and just ignore it as much as possible."
Tom will be performing with his The Wanted bandmates for the first time in more than seven years at a special Stand Up to Cancer concert on Monday (20Sep21).
He's been undergoing chemotherapy and 30 rounds of radiation to try and shrink the tumour, but one of the side effects of the intense course of treatment is a limit in his movement on his left hand side.
"That's hard at times, when you've (got) stilted walking and you can't move your arm properly," he explained. "I was a bit of live wire on stage. So this time it's probably going to be a little calmer. But The Wanted were never really known for their dancing."
But he kept positive attitude. He said his condition was "stable with a slight reduction" to his tumor following treatment.
