With his new, death-themed ITV programme airing next month, comic and actor Billy Connolly has spoken of being diagnosed with prostate cancer and Parkinson's disease on the same day.
Billy Connolly's Big Send Off begins on Wednesday May 7 at 9:00pm on ITV and looks at "the rich variety of attitudes, belief systems, rituals and customs relating to death".
Of his double diagnosis, Connolly told Radio Times: "It was a funny week I had. On the Monday I got hearing aids. On the Tuesday I got pills for heartburn which I have to take all the time.
"And on the Wednesday I got news that I had prostate cancer and Parkinson's disease."
He continued: "They told me on the phone. They said, 'Look we've had the result and it's cancer'. And I said, 'Oh nobody's ever said that to me before'."
Connolly has received the cancer all-clear following treatment.
In the programme, he says of his own death: "I don't think I want a resting place. I want to be scattered to the wind."
He adds: "Actually, I'd like to think we could have the coffin in a hearse, empty. And the real me being buried somewhere by pals, quietly, with a tree on top of me."
