ITV's 'Real Housewives of Cheshire' star Rob Lloyd has been hiding a secret cancer heartache from fans.
The 57-year-old businessman who also appeared in Channel 4’s 'The Secret Millionaire', was diagnosed with lymphoma two years ago.
He underwent months of gruelling chemotherapy to kill the cancer cells in his blood after splitting with co-star Ester Dee.
After browsing the charity Sense's website, he was arrested by four-year-old Mia and three-year-old Charlie Clucas' story.
Both were born blind and are unlikely to ever walk or speak.
In an instant Rob knew he had to 'pay it forward'.
Although still on medication himself, he devised 'Rob's Senseless Challenge' and committed himself to 12 months of gruelling and daring challenges.
Three months in and he has put himself through a terrifying skydive, tortuous training with the SAS and a marathon bike ride.
Speaking for the first time from his home in Rhos on Sea in North Wales he revealed the facts about his secret battle with cancer: “I was totally shocked and devastated when I discovered I had lymphoma. I only went to the doctors after I struggled around the 2019 London Marathon in seven hours and kept getting nose bleeds and feeling rough afterwards.
"I’m not one to feel sorry for myself. I’ve won and lost a fortune over the years, but I’ve always picked myself up. Now I want to help others.
"After hearing about Mia and Charlie, I contacted Sense to see how I could help. The Clucas family receive vital support from the Sense Family Centre in Peterborough. It is where parents, Andrew and Nikki, have learned new ways of engaging with their children and experiencing new activities, together as a family.
"However, there are tens of thousands of families in the UK caring for children and adults with complex disabilities who are really struggling to cope and need help. Cuts to services over the last year have only made matters worse.
"I was thinking about what fundraising challenge I could take on to support Sense, and then I thought, why not do a series of challenges!? So that is what I am doing.
"Everyone thinks it’s a bit crazy, so I named it a ‘Sense-less Challenge.’"
Now the maverick businessman has given up a year of his life to undertake the most terrifying and possibly humiliating challenges that will push his mind and body to the extreme.
He is currently focussed on getting in shape for a 24k march across the Brecon Beacons on Sunday 27th June. He'll be carrying 45 lbs on his back! This will be followed by two further challenges during Deafblind Awareness Week (27th June - 3rd July) including abseiling in London's Olympic Park on July 1st and the Three Peaks Challenge on 3rd and 4th July.
Rob concluded: “I can't really believe that I elected to do this, but when you survive something as terrible as cancer it reframes how you look at the world and your part in it.
"I have already completed three madcap challenges which included skydiving James Bond style to an SAS weekend and charity bike ride.
“The trouble is I am an overweight 57-year-old man who needs to get fit, fast!
"I have already lost a stone, but I need to lose another two to get on a racehorse later in the year. It's going to be 12 months of hell, but if the money I raise goes towards improving the lives of people who are deafblind or have complex disabilities, then it will have been worthwhile."
Chief Executive of Sense, Richard Kramer, said: “We’re enormously grateful to Rob for taking on this incredible challenge. He is a fantastic supporter of Sense making a huge difference to the work we do to support children and adults who have complex disabilities. It’s only thanks to supporters like Rob that Sense is able to continue its work. We wish him the best of luck!”
For Rob's video update go to: - https://we.tl/t-
Rob's page on the Sense website can be found here: https://www.sense.org.uk/
Editors Notes:
Rob is raising funds to help with the work Sense do in local communities across the UK, supporting families and people with complex disabilities. He has shown special interest in a new centre the charity is developing in Denbigh, Wales. The site, due for completion in March 2022, has been visited on several occasions by Rob, for inspiration.
· 1 in 5 people in the UK are registered disabled
· More than 400,000 children and adults in the UK have vision and hearing impairments
· The number of people living with complex disabilities is increasing
· Disability can lead to loneliness and isolation, even depression