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Feargal Sharkey has revealed that he was diagnosed with following a visit to his doctor for a sore throat. The Undertones singer, 66, is doing "very well" and pledged to "carry on this fight" for after the health issue was "resolved" a year ago.

Feargal spoke of his diagnosis publicly for the first time in a bid to encourage other men to get tested for cancer. Speaking to the Express on the banks of the River Lea in Hertfordshire, the keen angler said: "About a year and a half ago, I randomly went to see my with a sore throat.

"Now I've known him long enough but he goes 'no no, you're that bloke that used to sing. So if you're telling me you've got a sore throat, there's something going on'. So my doctor, being the beautiful, wonderful, awkward, cantankerous old man that is went 'oh Feargal, by the way, you're 65 now, I'm going to run the full battery of tests.

"Two days later, it turns out, I began a journey which led to the [diagnosis] of prostate cancer. "Thankfully, that's all now been resolved a year ago. But here we are, had it not been for that random visit to my local GP, I would never have known that I was at that point carrying prostate cancer, and if it had not been seen to, it could have been a very different ending and a very different outcome to my life.

"The reason I'm very happy to talk about it is because if there's one man out there over the age of 45 go and see your GP. Go and get the blood test done."

Making a direct appeal to the public, the Teenage Kicks singer added: "Now, for one in eight of you, you will be put in the same journey I've had and it's quite astonishing to think that in this country right now, one in eight men have prostate cancer. Most of them don't even know it. So go and have the blood test and if you're lucky, you'll walk away. If you're lucky, like me hopefully, you'll have caught it early on and you can deal with it and get on top of it. But, and I have such unbelievable admiration for Chris Hoy over the last couple of months, if you end up where Chris is, well you're now looking for a very different outcome and not the one you were expecting for your life, my friend. So, for a blood test - go get it done right now."

Six-time Olympic cycling gold medallist Sir Chris, 49, said in February 2024 that he was undergoing treatment for prostate cancer.

In October, he announced his diagnosis was terminal after the primary cancer spread to his bones, with doctors giving him between two and four years to live.

Speaking from Amwell Magna Fishery, one of the oldest angling clubs in the world, Feargal said: "I'm very well. I'm still here and I'm still going to carry on this [clean water] fight until it's resolved and everybody can come down to beautiful places like this and get access to these kinds of rivers and go 'it's a hot day, I think I'll go take a dip in the river' without having to worry about the last time the local water company dumped poo into the river."

In 2024, a record 3.6 million hours of raw sewage was discharged into England's rivers and seas by water companies.

Feargal accused the Labour government of "an awful lot of performative politics" since coming to power last July.

Environment Secretary Steve Reed has made cleaning the nation's waterways a key mission by banning water executive bonuses and threatening to jail water bosses.

The former rock star said: "There's an awful lot of people running around getting busy but actually nothing has changed."

He added: "There's an awful lot of pantomime going on. I'll give you a couple of examples. 'We're going to send people to jail'. Actually, when I look at the detail, it's specifically only for obstructing an investigation, not for just being a crude, abominable, greedy, self-interested, profiteering monopoly. Only if you obstruct an investigation, but by the way that's actually been the law for the last 30 years anyways. So what have you done other than re-arrange the deck chairs? 'Oh we're going to ban bonuses'. The chair of Thames Water seems to have made his view clear 'I'm just going to put the salaries up. You go right ahead'.

"In terms of actually dealing with the issue, little if anything has changed and I think an awful lot of people, particularly in the environmental world, already use the word betrayal. And those people do feel that they have been betrayed - and perhaps they have."

Feargal said regulators Ofwat and the Environment Agency (EA) "have all the teeth they could ever want".

But he added: "The fact they refuse to close their mouths and bite, that's a whole other story.

"The simple truth of the matter is the whole regulatory system needs utter reform."

Feargal, who referred to privatisation of water as "an utterly failed experiment", described how people would stop to talk to him about music and gigs throughout his "remarkable" life.

But he said: "For the last four or five years, people now want to talk to me about shite in rivers. So can we fix this as quickly as possible? Cause I'd quite like to go back to talking about music and nice things again as opposed to other people's poo."

Feargal was raised in Derry, in Northern Ireland, during the Troubles by his trade unionist father Jim - chairman of the Old Derry Labour Party - and his mother Sibeal, a formidable force in the country's civil rights movement.

As a 10-year-old boy, Feargal attended the People's Democracy march in January 1969 waving what he later found out was an anarchist flag.

Talking about how his upbringing inspired his campaigning, he said: "When I realised the injustice that was being perpetrated on water bill payers and the great British public and the environment, and in the world I grew up in, if you saw what you perceived to be an injustice, it was demanded of you that you actually confronted it and did something about it. So once I'd worked that out, I had no choice. It's in my DNA. I was going to have to stand up and do something."

The Government has been contacted for comment.

One in eight men will get prostate cancer. It is now the most diagnosed cancer in England. Around 510,000 men are living with and after prostate cancer in the UK.

Despite this, it's the only big cancer without a screening programme for the disease, so right now you won't be invited for a test. We're working hard to change that, but in the meantime here's what you can do.

Prostate cancer typically doesn't give you symptoms in its earlier stages when it's much easier to treat - so instead of waiting for signs you're unwell, it's essential for every man to know his risk of getting the disease.

That's why we've developed Prostate Cancer UK's Risk Checker, which more than 4 million people have used since it launched. This simple online tool on our website allows you to find out your risk in 30 seconds, then advises you what you can do about it.

You're at risk if you're a man over 50, and that risk increases as you get older.

Black men and men with a family history of prostate cancer have double the risk of getting prostate cancer compared with other men - so if that's you, we recommend talking to your GP about testing from the age of 45.

There are a lot of misconceptions about prostate cancer testing, and popular culture is full of references about the dreaded 'finger up the bum'. Loads of men put off talking to their GP about prostate cancer because of it, and sadly for some that leads to them getting an incurable diagnosis. But experts now agree that the rectal exam is an outdated test and isn't good at finding cancer.

The first test is a simple PSA blood test. You don't need a 'finger' to test for prostate cancer.

I mentioned screening earlier. We've been working with the National Screening Committee for several years, providing crucial evidence that shows how diagnosis has come on leaps and bounds, becoming safer and more accurate than ever.

The Committee will reach a decision about screening later this year. But there's something that could happen today that could save lives. Current NHS guidelines prevent doctors from starting conversations about prostate cancer risk and testing with men who don't have symptoms. As the disease often doesn't give you symptoms when it's curable, this means too many men are left in the dark about the disease until it's too late for a cure - it's an impossible and unfair situation.

Changing the guidelines and allowing GPs to start these conversations with the men at highest risk of getting prostate cancer would save hundreds of lives a year and cost absolutely nothing.

The earlier you diagnose prostate cancer, the easier it is to treat. In fact, many men diagnosed early can avoid treatment and just have the cancer monitored. If you're concerned about prostate cancer, you can take Prostate Cancer UK's Risk Checker today to understand your risk and what you can do next.

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