Nicki Chapman, the star of Escape to the Country, has opened up about her life-altering diagnosis. The 57-year-old from Herne Bay, Kent, discovered she had a brain tumour the size of a golf ball.
Five years ago, when her speech began to slur and her vision became blurred, she sought medical attention. Fortunately, the tumour was non-malignant, and she underwent surgery immediately.
The former publicist for the Spice Girls and Take That, who also served as a TV and radio presenter and Pop Idol judge, revealed to the Times that she is now a patron for the Brain Tumour Charity.
She emotionally shared: “It makes me cry. I have had an amazing life. And, once the bombshell of the tumour dropped, I thought, I don’t want to give this life up. But if this is it?”
W “It makes me cry. I have had an amazing life. And, once the bombshell of the tumour dropped, I thought, I don’t want to give this life up. But if this is it? Well — how lucky have I been?
“And that sounds so glossy, but I was born with the glass half-full. I found a strength to deal with it. It was either take me now or let me live.”
After taking a brief hiatus for treatment, she returned to work just six weeks post-surgery. Chapman, now 57, has recently published a memoir titled So Tell Me What You Want, which chronicles her journey from being a 20-year-old plugger tasked with getting songs on the radio, to becoming a high-profile publicist and eventually hosting the first series of Pop Idol in 2001 – the one won by Will Young.
She is now a familiar face on television, presenting Escape to the Country. Born in Herne Bay, Kent, in 1967 and raised alongside her older sister, Shelley, by their mother Carol, a housewife, and father Barry, who was employed in photocopying, the presenter has been fronting Escape to the Country since 2009.
She has commented on the series: “It isn’t just buying a home, it’s a lifestyle. If you move to the country there might not be pavements or street lighting. What’s fascinating is that it shows people a different way of life.”
So Tell Me What You Want: My Story of Making It in the Mad, Bad and Fab Pop Music Industry is available from Sphere costing £22
