New Big Brother presenter Will Best has revealed he suffers from terrible health scares and is constantly afraid of getting cancer – but admits therapy hasn’t helped him.
Will, 38, who will host the new edition of Big Brother on Sunday alongside AJ Odudu, said he had been unable to find the cause of his debilitating mental health problem – but admitted he was too impatient to to see if therapy sessions could get to the root of this.
On the Private Parts podcast, he said: “I tried talk therapy, but it didn’t help me. “I think I’m impatient.
“So when it comes to something like therapy, I just want to go up to someone who has a problem and say, ‘Just tell me how to fix this’ – like instant relief, boom.”
“I have always struggled with health fears. Most of the major cancers are always in my head.
Candid: New Big Brother host Will Best has revealed he suffers from terrible health scares and is constantly afraid of cancer – but therapy hasn’t helped him
Help: Will, 38, who will host the new edition of Big Brother on Sunday alongside AJ Odudu (pictured), said he had been unable to find the cause of his debilitating mental health problem
“And then people say things like, ‘The only thing that can actually lead to cancer is stress and worry’.”
“Now I’m worried about cancer, so obviously I’m going to get cancer.”
“I just wanted someone to say, ‘So stop worrying about this thing’ – not ‘What about your father, what did your father do?'”
“For some people it works very well. I have friends who it saved. They struggle with depression and anxiety and going to someone every week has saved their lives. And they still see that person. It didn’t work for me.
“I walked out and felt like, ‘I just talked to someone for an hour and got a little sad and I still think I have knee cancer’.”
The former T4 presenter further explained his fear of health and illness, recalling an instance where he convinced himself he had leukemia.
He said: “I once had a problem where I was brushing my teeth before bed and noticed these strange bruises on my shoulders and upper arms.”
“I thought, ‘That’s weird, I didn’t beat myself up.'” Googled unexplained bruising – you’ve got leukemia, mate, pretty late-stage severe leukemia.
“I didn’t sleep a second at all that night.”
He said, “I tried talk therapy, but that didn’t help me.” I think I’m impatient.
Will said: “I’ve always struggled with health fears.” “I always have most major cancers on my mind” (pictured with AJ Odudu)
“I sit there all night waiting for the doctor’s office to open.” 8 a.m. phone call. The doctor said, “Unexplained bruising, that’s never a good sign.” If more bruising occurs, just come back.
“That afternoon one of my roommates comes back and asks, “Do you mind just checking?” She asked, “Did you have those bruises on your sides?”
“I went straight back to the doctor. They said, “It’s quicker if you ride your bike to the hospital.”
After Will and his girlfriend waited in tears at the hospital for the test results, a specialist told him: “There’s nothing wrong with you – sometimes the body just does strange things.”
Will added, “The next day I go to the gym.” I use this thing with weights and wires, and I do this exercise and the wires are really rubbing against my shoulders and right above my hips.
He said, “It works very well for some people.” I have friends who it has saved. They struggle with depression and anxiety and going to someone every week has saved their lives.”
“I thought, ‘Because of this machine, it’s rubbing you there and bursting the blood vessels a little bit.’ It was like that all along.
Will said he might now try a form of light-based psychotherapy called EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), which reprograms neural pathways and washes away experiences that trigger worry.
On his health fears, he added: “There’s a mud inside me – I really need to sort this out.”
Big Brother returns on Sunday at 9pm on ITV2.