Sir Chris Hoy reveals first thought after terminal cancer diagnosis

Sir Chris Hoy has been flooded with support from This Morning viewers as he revealed his harrowing first thought following his terminal cancer diagnosis. 

The six-time Olympic gold medallist, 48, appeared on Tuesday's installment of ITV programme for his first interview alongside his wife Lady Sarra Hoy following his diagnosis. 

He was joined on the iconic blue couch by Sarra, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis shortly after Chris' own diagnosis. 

And when speaking to hosts Cat Deeley and Dermot O'Leary, he revealed that the first thought that passed through his mind when waiting for the doctor was his children, Callum, nine, and Chloe, six, and what will happen to them. 

He told the ITV programme: 'We were in the room, and we got the diagnosis and I felt sick, I felt nauseous and the room felt like it was spinning. 

'I had to get up but I couldn't sit still and it's not the news that you can ever prepare yourself for. 

'You can never imagine yourself in that situation and a million thoughts are running through your head. The first one was 'how on Earth are we going to tell the kids?'

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Chris went on to explain how difficult it was for him and his family during the first six months, and how his children were the driving factor for him to get up and carry on. 

The cyclist added: 'Even sitting here doing this [the interview], six months ago there is no way we could have done it - it would have been too emotional. It's having targets each day, it's having things that you have to focus on. 

'The kids are the centre of your life so that's your purpose to get out of bed and to get on and look after them to make sure they're okay. 

'But it's about bringing it back to the here and the now, the future doesn't exist yet… so it's about trying to be present, trying to appreciate the 'now'.'

And after his open and honest discussion about his diagnosis, fans of the athlete flocked to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share their support and admiration of his bravery. 

One penned: 'Just watched Sir Chris Hoy on #ThisMorning. What an inspirational guy he is. The way he and his wife are dealing with this is just amazing! Your book is now on my Christmas list. Stay positive.'

'Sir Chris Hoy is just an all-round incredible individual. No matter what life throws at him he attacks it with humility. Wish the world had more people like him.'

'Sir Chris Hoy really is an inspiration!'

'Sir Chris Hoy’s amazing, I’m not sure I could keep as calm & level headed as he is if I had terminal cancer'

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 'I’m watching now and having been given the same diagnosis as Chris, great for speaking out and telling everyone'

With Chris being a very athletic and active, he first blamed his pain on his frequent gym sessions.

But after realising something was quite right a scan confirmed he had a tumour on his shoulder. 

Opening up to Cat and Dermott, he said: 'I had this pain in my shoulder and it wouldn't go away. I was 47 then, still lifting weights in the gym, still physically active. You're used to having aches and pains [at that age] but this one didn't go away…

'I went to get the scan at the doctors surgery and they brought the scan up and said 'there's a tumour on your shoulder, we need to find out what the root of this is' so I had multiple other scans and eventually the root of it was a prostate, and it was stage 4 prostate cancer which had spread to the bones. 

'[I had] no symptoms, nothing to point to this diagnosis until the shoulder pain so it came out of the blue. 

'I always prided myself as someone who would go to the doctor with illness or pain. As part of being an athlete, you're used to looking after your body and being quite aware of yourself, but in this case, it was too late by the time we had actually found the diagnosis.'

The couple also opened up about how Chris's wife, Sarra, kept her MS diagnosis a secret when she was first diagnosed. 

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Sarra revealed that after everything that had happened the weeks before, she felt it was not the right time to tell her husband.  

She said: 'It came completely out of the blue and I just knew it wasn't the right time. I always tell Chris everything and we are always each other's crutch in everything in life so it was very against the grain to not share it with him but I just knew it wasn't the right time. 

'We were trying to find stable ground having just been given this diagnosis from him.'

She continued: 'It's been tough, but actually, we've been able to do it together. Once you're in it, you can cope with so much more than you think.'

Chris, who knew about his cancer from September, 2023, kept his diagnosis secret from fans for several months, even revealing that he only shared that he had cancer because his 'hand was forced'.

'Last year I was diagnosed with cancer, which came as a huge shock, having had no symptoms up to that point,' he revealed to his adoring fans in February.

'I'm currently receiving treatment including chemotherapy, which thankfully is going really well... For the sake of my young family, I had hoped to keep this information private but regrettably our hand has been forced.'

The Edinburgh-born legend - on the surface - appeared to be positive about the diagnosis.

Although he conceded that it had been 'incredibly difficult', he said that he 'felt fine' and was 'continuing to work, ride my bike and live my life as normal'.

In April, two months later, that same positive outlook was still being radiated from Chris who revealed that he was about to have his final round of chemotherapy and was focused on recovering.