Richard Herring reveals incurable hairy cell leukaemia

Comedian and television personality Richard Herring has announced he has been diagnosed with a rare, incurable form of blood cancer. The 58-year-old, best known for winning the tenth series of "Taskmaster" and its subsequent "Champion of Champions" special, shared the news in a post on his Substack page on Tuesday, June 16, 2026. This marks his second cancer diagnosis, following treatment for testicular cancer five years ago.

Herring revealed he has hairy cell leukaemia, a rare and slow-developing blood cancer. He described the condition as incurable but emphasized it is entirely treatable and not life-threatening. In his characteristically humorous style, he wrote that the treatment carries a tiny risk, but joked that so does loading the dishwasher. He stated he plans to live a long life and will use the diagnosis to his comedic advantage.

The comedian explained that this cancer is separate from his previous bout with testicular cancer, which he said is basically at the all-clear stage. He noted that abnormal cells were first detected in his bone marrow approximately twelve years ago, but after five years of monitoring, doctors believed it was likely not a problem. He had since...