Noddy Holder: Slade star diagnosed with cancer five years ago, wife reveals

Noddy Holder's wife has revealed the former Slade frontman was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer five years ago.

Holder, 77, was originally only given six months to live, wife Suzan said.

But she said the singer, known for fronting hits like Merry Xmas Everybody and Cum On Feel The Noize, responded well to experimental chemotherapy.

She said she was in "awe" of how he had dealt with the treatment. "Here we are five years later and he's feeling good and looking great," she added.

Writing in Cheshire Life magazine, Mrs Holder said her husband had coped "with amazing good humour and breath-taking bravery".

Hailing from Walsall, West Midlands, Noddy Holder fronted the glam rock band from 1966 until 1992, scoring six UK number one singles.

He has also worked in TV and radio, notably acting in ITV comedy series The Grimleys from 1999 to 2001 and hosting radio shows on the former Piccadilly 1152 and Key 103 networks in Manchester.

Mrs Holder said her husband was treated at the Christie hospital in Manchester, where he "agreed to a gruelling course of experimental treatment as part of a brand-new trial of intense chemotherapy".

Oesophageal cancer is a cancer that's found anywhere in the oesophagus, sometimes called the gullet or food pipe, which connects your mouth to your stomach.

Mrs Holder said the diagnosis came as a "total bombshell" to them and that sticking together was the key to making it through such a difficult time.

"We told only immediate close family and friends and I will never apologise to those we did not confide in, only to those who were forced to suffer pain and anguish alongside us as we attempted to navigate our way through this new and horrifying world," Mrs Holder added.

Mrs Holder, who has been married to Noddy for nearly 20 years, said the couple were given "no guarantees" that the treatment would work.

"Noddy has always been great at living in the moment, not hankering for the past or worrying about the future," she said.

"That attitude served him well and a lot of his recovery has been credited to his positive mental attitude."

Despite the gruelling treatment, Noddy Holder put on a string of shows this summer.