BBC Radio presenter Eddie Nestor, 62, is diagnosed with cancer
BBC Radio London presenter Eddie Nestor has stepped away from his show after being diagnosed with cancer, asking fans for their 'prayers and encouragement'.
The 62-year-old broadcaster and actor revealed he spent both Father's Day and his birthday in hospital and had since undergone his first chemotherapy session.
Nestor also thanked his family for being 'the greatest source of strength in my life' and praised BBC colleagues for their 'love and support' in recent weeks.
The presenter, who was in TV's Casualty as well as the films Trainspotting and Paddington, asked fans in an Instagram post: 'Please don't feel sorry for me.'
Nestor wrote yesterday: 'Greetings. You may have noticed I've been a little quieter than usual. Well, this wasn't quite the June we'd planned.
'I missed my own brunch and ended up spending Father's Day and my birthday in hospital. Life has a funny way of rewriting your diary.
'I've been diagnosed with cancer. The good news is that, thanks to an incredible medical team, I've now had my first chemotherapy treatment. We're thankful, we're hopeful and as a family, we're looking upward and forward.'
'I honestly don't know exactly what the next few months will look like. I'll work when I'm able, post when I feel like it and spend the rest of the time concentrating on getting stronger.
BBC presenter Eddie Nestor at the European Diversity Awards in London last November
Eddie Nestor with his wife Lisa Nestor at the Powerlist 2024 event in London in October 2024
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Eddie Nestor played a London Underground ticket inspector in the 2014 film Paddington
'There is one thing I do know. The greatest source of strength in my life is my family.'
He added that his fitness coach wife Lisa Nestor has been 'quieter too' on social media and encouraged fans to 'encourage her' when she starts posting online again.
Nestor, who has presented on BBC Radio London since 2002, is currently having his show covered by Jim Davis and other members of the team.
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He said: 'As for me, please don't feel sorry for me. I'd much rather have your prayers, your encouragement and the occasional laugh. That's the fuel I need.
Nestor also joked about his wife that 'after more than 20 years of me carrying her, it's probably about time she started pulling her own weight'.
He concluded: 'Thank you to everyone at the BBC for all your love and support. Thank you to everyone who's already reached out.
'Every epic journey begins with a single step. Well, here's another one. Much love, Eddie.'
His BBC London colleague Shay Kaur Grewal spoke about the cancer diagnosis live on air during her afternoon show, saying such discussion was 'not an easy one for me'.
She added: 'As you'll know something that I always talk about here on BBC Radio London is the fact that we are very much a family, and this particular news I'm about share is about one of our much loved colleagues and a personal dear friend of mine...
Eddie Nestor (back row, left) starred in BBC sketch comedy show The Real McCoy in 1990s
Nestor played Cyril James in the BBC's hospital drama Casualty for 36 episodes in the 1980s
'I'm talking about the fantastic Eddie Nestor. I'm certain many of you tuned into BBC Radio London over the coming weeks have had a lot of questions, and I'm sharing this news with you now on Radio London, as Eddie has given us permission to do so, and he also has shared this news publicly today.'
She then read his social media statement to listeners, adding: 'So, if you are tuned in to BBC Radio London, as I say, it's not something I wanted to do, but of course it's important to share, as many have wanted to know, the news that Eddie has announced today that he's been diagnosed with cancer.'
Nestor is also known as an actor who played Cyril James in Casualty for 36 episodes in the 1980s and had small roles in Trainspotting in 1996 and Paddington in 2014, in which he played a London Underground ticket inspector.
Other TV appearances over the decades have included Desmond's, The Real McCoy, EastEnders, The Bill, Death In Paradise, Dead Ringers and Canterbury Tales.
Nestor was appointed an MBE in the Queen's New Year's Honours List for 2018 for his charity work and services to radio.
BBC Radio London editor Sara David said: 'Everyone at BBC Radio London, along with his loyal listeners, is sending Eddie and his family our support and best wishes.'
Is France the Best Team at This World Cup or Is It Yet to Be Properly Tested?
Is France the Best Team at This World Cup or Is It Yet to Be Properly Tested?
France has blown opponents away at this tournament, becoming the first team to score three or more goals in five straight World Cup matches.Conor Orr|
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Truly the stuff of fever dreams over here in section 225 along the stadium’s north side. Pass the man in the tight striped shirt wearing a red beret and holding a fake plastic baguette and you turn the corner to find a pair of men dressed as mimes. They are waving a French flag to fan a young supporter of Les Bleus who has overheated and is slumped down in a chair as security forms a wall around him to cool down.
Around the corner comes Max, an athletically built male of about 5’10” who is dripping sweat beneath what looks like a heavy, non-breathable blonde wig decorated in a kind of braided pigtail. He’s wearing a traditional Swedish dress for Midsommar atop shin guards, soccer socks and tennis shoes. Follow him through the concourse and onto the patio, and you’ve arrived at Camp Sweden.
The fan section of Swedish football—which also cleverly featured fans wearing yellow shirts with the word IKEA written on them—was paltry in size to the overwhelming number of French supporters here among the 83,000 attendants in New Jersey, but for the first 40 minutes, the chants of ‘Allez, Allez, Allez’ (‘Onward Sweden’) did not relent.
Max said Swedish fans took pride in their FIFA ranking for kindness, but when informed that France were heavy favorites, his eyes narrowed and he assumed a joking fighter’s posture. When asked if he believed, as Sweden seemed to escape one piercing attempt on goal after another (including a 19th-minute goal by Kylian Mbappe that was called back upon review) by the blistering French attack over the course of the first 40 minutes, he smiled.
“Of course I do,” he says. “I f—- flew here.”
France and Kylian Mbappé Take Charge
Of course, in rapid succession just before halftime, just after halftime and a third time at the 73rd minute, France eventually honed its eye for the goal and obliterated any chance of a stunning upset. Gone were the scattershot follows, the moments where Les Bleus’ incredible strikers were slapping their heads in frustration.
Kylian Mbappé sliced between two defenders and pounded the ball in the far side of the net. Bradley Barcola slipped between a pair of Swedish defenders, took a quick touch and scored again. Then Mbappé, one last time, punched the ball to the far corner of the net, just off the outstretched hand of Sweden's keeper, Jacob Widell Zetterström. After the last one Mbappé found an open swath of space and skied into the air, a bit like a toddler pretending he was a rocket ship blasting off to the moon.
Outside of the confidence that momentarily reverberated from Camp Sweden, though, the eventual 3-0 result was heavily expected. France became the first team in World Cup history to score three or more goals in five straight matches, though those matches were against some of the Cup’s lowliest opponents: A lukewarm Senegal, Iraq and a second-string Norway, none of which are in the FIFA top 15 World Rankings (Iraq hovers in the mid 60s). Sweden was in organizational tatters leading into the World Cup as well.
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Just How Good is This France Team?
It brings up the important question, as France advances to play Paraguay (another team outside of the Top 30 in FIFA World Rankings, though riding high after a stunning upset over Germany in the opening round) in the second stage of the knockout tournament: Are we responsible for believing what our eyes tell us to believe? Or, is it merely another victory over a small, bright-eyed, understaffed army like we saw in Camp Sweden?
“We knew we had to be perfect,” Graham Potter, Sweden’s manager said afterward, noting that, even if Sweden was perfect, it may not have been enough. “We needed a couple of miracles.”
When asked if he thought any team could beat France, he said: “Of course, it’s football, anything is possible, but I haven’t personally seen a better team.”
As Mbappé was subbed off in the 86th minute, France manager Didier Deschamps stretched out his arms and bowed several times, welcoming the 27-year-old star to the bench. Mbappé has now played in 18 World Cup games and has scored 18 goals. He is now the lone record holder, passing Ronaldo and Leonidas, for the most goals ever scored in the knockout stage of the World Cup (10).
What France Does to Opponents
French soccer, at this very moment, is the picture of versatility, with an amoebic attack that is grounded in a concept that is simple theoretically but almost impossible to achieve in real time: Make yourselves fluid enough to empower your goalscorers. France has dominated by mastering width, drawing double teams at both ends of the pitch and thinning out defenses that still cannot manage to bracket the team’s fleet of strikers. Even with quarterly hydration breaks, the tiring effect this has on defenders is debilitating.
They are also appropriately dominant. Before Mbappé’s first goal, he made a backward no-look pass to Ousmane Dembélé that looked more like a dance step (the pair have more mutual assists for one another than any tandem dating back more than 50 years). Every part of his facial expression suggested that he planned for the moment to go viral. France possessed the ball more than 60% of the game and had a shot advantage of 12-3.
Les Bleus appear comfortable enough, then, to sidestep the question of opponent quality. Deschamps admitted that “for us, it wasn’t that difficult” to reach the round of 16 but cautioned a reporter who mentioned the cementing confidence among French fans and journalists.
“Slow down, please,” he said. “There are issues, there’s always room for improvement.”
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Published 2 hours ago | Modified 17 minutes ago
CONOR ORRConor Orr is a Senior Writer for Sports Illustrated with more than 15 years of experience covering the NFL. His work has been cited in Best American Sportswriting and has won a PFWAA award. Prior to Sports Illustrated, he covered both the Giants and Jets for The Star-Ledger. Conor lives in New Jersey with his amazing wife and three children.
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