AceShowbiz - Noddy Holder says he's "fit" after a revolutionary drug helped him fight cancer. The Slade frontman, 77, was given six months to live when he was diagnosed with esophagus cancer five years ago but says he's now on an "even keel" after undergoing grueling experimental medicine treatment.

He told BBC Radio 2, "It was touch and go. I lost all my hair. My weight was down to about eight stone - so every cloud. I've just had a scan last week and everything is on an even keel at the moment, so I hope it carries on that way. I'm fit, fit, fit… but I'm fit for nothing."

The "Merry Xmas Everybody" rocker and wife Suzan kept his cancer fight secret for five years, but Noddy spoke out this year about his diagnosis to highlight the work of the Christie group in Manchester. He added to Radio 2's Johnnie Walker, "I was more worried for Suzan and the kids and the grandkids than I was for myself, really, because I knew it’d be much more of a trauma or certainly an equal trauma for them as it was for me. Five years later, I'm still standing, in the words of Elton."

Noddy had previously vowed to belt out his famous "It’s Christmaaaaaas" lyric live after returning to stage following his cancer battle. He said earlier this year when asked if he intends to get back to singing "Merry Xmas Everybody" at gigs, "Oh yes. I don't really know why my voice wasn't affected, because my breathing was.I don't quite breathe in the same way I used to, but somehow I've adapted the singing around it."

Slade, formed in Wolverhampton in 1966, went on to become one of the most influential glam rock bands of the 1970s, scoring six No-1s, including festive favorite "Merry Xmas Everybody".