Michael Douglas Lied About Having Throat Cancer

Michael Douglas lied about the type of cancer he suffered following his doctors advice, the actor says. In the startling admission Douglas says he didn’t actually suffer from throat cancer, his tumor was in his tongue.

The revelation came during the British TV show “This Morning” on the ITV network, which is celebrating Male Cancer Week. Talking about his condition to fellow actor Samuel L. Jackson, Douglas said:

This was right before I had to go on a big tour for Wall Street so we kind of said there’s no way we can cancel the tour and say we don’t feel well… You’ve got to tell them. So you know, I said you’ve just got to come out and just tell them I’ve got cancer and that’s that.

But, the surgeon said let’s just say it’s throat cancer. I said ‘OK, you don’t want to say it’s tongue cancer?’ I said ‘why’s that?’ and he said ‘well, if you really want to know why, if we do have to have surgery it’s not going to be pretty. You’ll lose part of you jaw and your tongue and all of that stuff. So I said, ‘OK sure.

Michael Douglas says that he thought of his career at the time, but his focus was on his health and he was not going to worry about it until his treatment was completed.

The legendary actor also said he encouraged his wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones to go on a golf trip with her family without him, while he started to undergo treatment.

Douglas confessed he was very open with his two young children about his prognosis to protect them from finding out surprising news in tabloids.

“The kids were great,” Michael Douglas said. “I thought the more they knew the better it was. What scares you is the not knowing.”