Filling in today on Live! With Regis and Kelly for Regis Philbin, Real Sports host Bryant Gumbel announced, “Two months ago, I had cancer surgery.”
“It’s nothing to hide from,” the former Today anchor continued. “They opened up my chest, they took a malignant tumor, and they took part of my lung and they took some other goodies, and pathology on most of the stuff came back benign. But enough aggressive cells had escaped the tumor that it warranted some treatment, and I went through treatment, and it’s done now. We hope — we hope — it’s over and done with.”
Gumbel said the surgery was painful, and he kept it private. “I even kept it from my staff at Real Sports.”
When co-host Kelly Ripa asked if Gumbel was going to be okay, he replied that “I’m okay, for the time being”, while adding, “They can’t tell if you’re free and clear until long after the treatments are done.”
As for his next steps, Gumbel said, “I’m seeing my oncologist next week, and I’m seeing my surgeon next week, and I hope that they greenlight me to play golf…”