Greg James has shared an update on his father’s health, informing BBC Radio 1 listeners about his absence from the airwaves.
Taking to his Instagram Story, the 40-year-old broadcaster explained that his dad, Alan Milward, had undergone heart surgery.
It comes after Alan suffered a stroke in March during a scheduled heart operation, after which Greg admitted it had been a ‘terrible time’ for his family, thanking fans for their support.
Today, Greg shared the latest, having missed his Radio 1 Breakfast Show for two days running.
He shared a smiley, thumbs-up selfie from outside the intensive care unit, writing facetiously that it’s an ‘absolute hoot’ in there.
‘What a great day! An absolute hoot in ICU! LOVE IT THERE!’, he joked.
‘Surgery was MUCH LONGER than everyone hoped. Big up my mum and my big sis. And the surgeons. And the nurses. And the NHS. What a gang. We’ve all gone mad.’
Greg then said: ‘Real talk, surgery went OK but he’s far from out of the woods so I’m gonna take it easy tomorrow and hopefully back on Friday.
‘Plus I’m in no fit state to be on the radio – I mean, look at me. I’m posting photos from intensive care ffs.’
The presenter then thanked his followers for their ‘lovely messages’.
Referring to England’s first win in their World Cup match last night, he added that ‘It’s coming home’ but ‘Alan isn’t for a while’.
In another post shared yesterday, Greg explained that it had been a ‘wild few months’.
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‘Hello from my mum’s garden! I wasn’t on the breakfast show today as my dad was in for another go at heart surgery (it’s been a wild few months and I didn’t want to bore you with it all)’, he penned alongside a video of his parents’ water fountain.
‘But here we are. Back to square one. Waiting for news and staying distracted and keeping calm by making water features.
‘All being well, back on tomorrow morning.’
Earlier this year, Greg revealed his dad’s health struggles just as he was due to start his Comic Relief challenge, which involved cycling 630 miles (1,000km) across the UK on a tandem bike over eight days.
He persisted with the mission, which started in Weymouth and finished in Edinburgh, marking his third endurance challenge for the charity event. Greg said that Alan ‘really wanted [him] to do it’.
‘I’ve had a terrible time. My dad’s not very well. Not very well at all. And it’s horrible,’ Greg confessed in an emotional video.
He added that, ‘in times like these, it’s so nice to feel the love from people,’ urging anyone with a friend in a similar situation to simply ‘send a message, because it’s a nice thing to do.’
Greg went on to say that the ‘hardest bit’ was that his dad was so unwell that he was ‘not really there at the minute’, calling the whole ordeal ‘bleak’.
He concluded by insisting that he wanted to share the personal news to highlight that ‘life isn’t plain sailing.’
From there, Greg took on his Red Nose Day challenge – forewarning fans that he would pull out if ‘something horrible happened’, which he, thankfully, did not need to do.
He raised over £4million for Comic Relief with The Longest Ride, tearful and utterly exhausted as he crossed the finish line.