Greg James: Dad Battling After Stroke

Radio One DJ has said his father Alan Milward is 'fighting hard' after suffering a stroke and revealed he's 'not really there at the minute'.

Returning to the show on Monday, Greg, 40, said he was 'very very happy to be back' after his father's ill health.  

Alan, who Greg is very close to, suffered a stroke during a planned heart operation, and Greg cancelled his show on Friday, to be with his family.

Greg has now confirmed that his dad, 'big Al', is doing okay and is ‘still with us.’

He said: ‘Thank you to Sam and Danni for Friday, as there was a slight mishap with my dad. My dad’s not very well at the minute’.

‘I know that he would want me to get back on the show. And he’s still with us, which is good!’ 

And Greg said his father is ‘fighting hard’ and would be taking ‘small steps’ on the road back to recovery.

Greg is due to begin his latest Red Nose Day challenge on Friday, which involves cycling 630 miles (1,000km) across the UK on a tandem bike for eight days.

And talking about the challenge, Greg said: 'Here’s a video which is more serious than I like to be on here, but I just wanted to update you on what’s [been] going on the last few days of my life.

‘I’ve had a terrible time. My dad’s not very well. Not very well at all. And it’s horrible.

‘You might have heard Sam and Danni talk about this on the Breakfast Show on Friday, because I wasn’t there. They were very lovely about it; they told lots of you, and thank you for sending me a message if you did. It’s massively appreciated.’

He said: ‘in times like these, it’s so nice to feel the love from people.'  

Greg added: ‘And for those that don’t know what’s happened to my dad, I’m sorry that you’re finding out on my wildly popular social media channels.

‘He was supposed to go, well, he did go in for heart surgery on Thursday, and I was on the Breakfast Show on Thursday because I thought, “That’s a good distraction.”

‘I’m always banging on about how great radio is at distracting you from your life and things going to s**t. It’s good for listeners, and it’s good for the people doing it as well. So, I was happy on Thursday. I thought, “That’s the best place for me.” I love doing that.

‘And then on Thursday night, we found out that, sadly, the operation didn’t go to plan, and he had a stroke. Which is really s**t.’

Greg said he went to visit his father in the ICU over the weekend. 

He thanked the NHS for looking after his father and said: ' 

‘Particularly the handsome doctor that he’s having by his bedside. 

‘That’s one of the mad things, isn’t it, about your brain and about humans and about life, is that sometimes the best thing is to be in a WhatsApp group where you’re just talking about how fit the doctor is. And that’s really helped.’

He joked: ‘Hope he doesn’t see this, because then it’s gonna be awkward when I next go in.'

Greg said that despite everything that's going on he is still pressing ahead witih his Red Nose Day challenge. 

He said: 'He really wanted me to do this challenge, which is coming on Friday, so I’ve been training my t**s off for it, and he knows that, and he knows how much it means to me, so this Comic Relief challenge, 1,000km on a tandem, from Weymouth to Edinburgh, I’m up for it.

‘He’s steady at the minute, and I guess slowly but surely improving a bit, but it’s pretty f***ing bleak.

‘So, have Big Al in your thoughts. And I’m gonna really need some support on this challenge. I know I was anyway, but it’s gonna be extra emotional now, so hopefully I can count on you to be there.’ 

Alan and Greg are very close and regularly go to the cricket together. Alan has even co-hosted his Radio 1 show with him.

The duo took part in a GQ interview in 2019 and Alan talked about how proud he is of his son. 

He said: ‘He used to wake up at about 4am, and I spent many, many, many early hours with him resting across my chest trying to get him to sleep.

'But clearly it didn’t work because his first slot on Radio 1 was at 4am.’