AceShowbiz - Noddy Holder was told he had only six months to live after being diagnosed with cancer five years ago. The Slade frontman's wife Suzan has talked about the shock she and her 77-year-old spouse when doctors broke the "bombshell" news he has oesophageal cancer and his prognosis was't good.

"Five years ago we were given the devastating news that he had oesophageal cancer and only had six months to live. I'm sorry if that comes as a bit of a shock; it came as a total bombshell to us too. We coped with it the only way we could, by hunkering down, sticking together and doing everything we could to survive it," she wrote in a column for Cheshire Life magazine.

"We told only immediate close family and friends and I will never apologise to those we did not confide in, only to those who were forced to suffer pain and anguish alongside us as we attempted to navigate our way through this new and horrifying world. They held our hands and kept our confidence. We truly found out who our real friends are."

The "Cuz I Love You" hitmaker was treated at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester, where he "agreed to a gruelling course of experimental treatment as part of a brand-new trial of intense chemotherapy," and Suzan is thankful he is "feeling good" now.

She wrote, "There were no guarantees, no one knew if it would have any effect, let alone work miracles, but he responded well. As anyone who has received a cancer diagnosis will know, the experts never like to use the word 'cure', but here we are five years later and he's feeling good and looking great."

As well as the "excellent" care Noddy received from his medical team, Suzan thinks his positive attitude also helped him to get better. She wrote, "Noddy has always been great at living in the moment, not hankering for the past or worrying about the future."

"That attitude served him well and a lot of his recovery has been credited to his positive mental attitude. You need so much mental strength to get through something like this. I've always been impressed by my husband's focus and determination but now I am completely in awe."