HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Bryant Gumbel dropped a bombshell while serving as a guest co-host on Tuesday’s Live! With Regis and Kelly, revealing that he’s been diagnosed with lung cancer.
“It’s nothing to run from, it’s just that I’ve not made it public,” said the 61-year-old broadcaster, who disclosed that he had surgery on his lung two months ago to remove a tumor.
Gumbel said he had kept his medical condition private by only telling a few people close to him. He noted that he hadn’t even told the staff on his HBO series, Real Sports.
“They opened up my chest, they took a malignant tumor and they took part of my lung and they took some other goodies,” said Gumbel. “The pathology on most of the stuff had been benign, but enough aggressive cells had escaped the tumor that it warranted some treatment and I went through that and it’s done now.”
Gumbel first rose to fame as a sportscaster for NBC. He then worked as a co-host on the network’s Today Show for 15 years, leaving the morning program in 1997.
