In news nobody was expecting, Louis Walsh has revealed he secretly battled cancer during lockdown. The 71-year-old announced the shock news on Friday’s episode of Celebrity Big Brother.

The X Factor judge was asked how he dealt with lockdown, to which he replied: “I was sick, and I think nobody knew I was sick. I had cancer. A mild version, a rare one.

“In my blood, I didn’t even know that I had it until I went to the hospital, and then they checked me, checked me, checked me, then they found it. They said it’s a rare one.”

The heartbreaking admission made his fellow housemates, including Levi Roots and Ekin-Su Culculoglu burst into tears after finding out his secret health battle.

Louis then said medics were able to “clear up” the cancer as Ekin-Su asked him if the life-threatening illness affected him on a mental level.

As he pointed to his head, he responded: “It did, I gotta be honest with you. It’s just up here, even when I go past a hospital I almost get sick.

“It’s all gone, I’m fine. It was just the shock of being sick and that word… nobody wants that word. I have it blocked out, a reality check, you see so many people sick and it’s terrible.

“In my world, it was all about pop music and all that. I didn’t think of anybody getting sick or anything like that. And that was like wow, reality check, you’re in the real world.”

A source told The Sun: “This is the whole reason why Louis wanted to go into Celebrity Big Brother. He has spent the last five years at home in Dublin with lockdown and this health battle and it’s given him a reality check on life.

“He just wanted to have some fun,” the source told the publication. “Sharon Osbourne was aware of his struggles, but beyond his family no one else knew.