EX rugby star Ugo Monye left Strictly viewers in tears when he revealed he attended his dad’s funeral just hours before his first dance in the show.
He dedicated his first whirl with pro-dancer Oti Mabuse to his dad Theophilus, 81, who died of prostate cancer three weeks before the 2021 contest started.
The former rugby union pro and pundit today reveals that he had no idea his father was at death’s door after carers kept his illness from the family.
The dad-of-two told The Sun how the 81-year-old’s care team in Nigeria didn’t want to worry the family during the Covid pandemic.
Ugo, 41, said: “His carer knew but I’m not sure how much information he was given about how sick he was.
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“They didn’t pass it on through fear and worry. It’s amazing what decisions people make when they want to try and comfort people and keep them at ease.”
That decision, combined with the pandemic, meant Ugo was unable to say goodbye to oil businessman Theophilus before he died.
Now, ahead of an emotional Father's Day, the TNT Sports host is raising awareness of prostate cancer symptoms and launching a new campaign encouraging early diagnosis of the disease.
He said: “Dad lived in Nigeria after splitting from my mum more than 15 years ago and I’d not seen him for several years.
“It’s like anything though, when it comes to the end, you do a lot of reflecting, deep thinking and introspection about everything, what could have been.
"Sadly, sometimes you don’t get a chance to do things differently.”
Ugo said he was shocked after hearing his father, who suffered from various health ailments, had died while at a friend’s book lunch in early September 2021.
A phone call from one of his two brothers left him reeling but he didn’t want to leave the venue in case people started asking questions.
He started training for Strictly and had his first dance hours after watching Theophilus’ funeral on Zoom due to restrictions on travel to Nigeria.
Ugo said: “I can’t provide a coherent answer on how I got through that (Strictly) night.
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“I always knew the day would be a difficult one.
"Strictly was a distraction during that time and part of me was grateful for that distraction and release.”
Dance dedication
On the evening of the show, Ugo dedicated his first dance with Oti - a Samba to the track Iko Iko (My Bestie) by Justin Wellington ft. Small Jam - to his father.
He told viewers: "So my dad passed away a couple of weeks ago, prostate cancer, and we had his funeral this morning.
"During the funeral, they spoke about today being a day of celebration - and that's exactly how today feels.
“So there's no better way of celebrating him by dancing. Tonight feels really special.”
The duo, who wore colourful pink outfits, kicked off their high-energy performance by banging on drums, which were on fire.
After the dance, judges commend Ugo for "giving it his all" and fans labelled him "brave".
'Cocktail of emotions'
Theophilus had been sick for about six months prior to his death from prostate cancer.
"It was a massive shock, a huge amount of grief," Ugo said about his father's passing.
"It's just the frustration as well because prostate cancer is so treatable, I wish my dad had been made aware or perhaps been more proactive in understanding what he had.
"With lots of people who contract prostate cancer, you can get treatment which can ultimately save their lives.
"There is a cocktail of emotions. Any loss is a sad loss but when you get a sense it could have been prevented, that's something that just lingers. It just lingers."
Ugo is now passionate about early detection of the disease, which is more prevalent in black men.
One in four black men will get the disease in their lifetime, compared to other males who have a one in eight chance of developing the cancer.
Ugo said: “We still need to understand why black men are two times as likely to get prostate cancer but the most important thing is that we know they do.
I can’t provide a coherent answer on how I got through that (Strictly) night
Ugo Monye
“If men do something early enough and get themselves checked out they can prolong their life or, with treatment, survive if they catch it early enough.
“Most adults know to go to the dentist twice a year to get their teeth checked, but they don’t know how often they should get checked at their GP.
“There’s always an excuse, ‘I’m busy, I’m tired, I’ve got too much to do’.
"However, if I said one phone call could save your life would you make it?”
Awareness drive
Ugo has launched a new campaign called Know Your Roots to encourage families to share their medical backgrounds to help encourage early diagnosis of the disease.
Along with care provider GenesisCare, he has designed a Father’s Day card which makes it easy to share family history of prostate cancer - so future generations know their risk of developing it.
New research by the firm reveals 84 per cent of men are unaware if their parents ever had breast or prostate cancer - a figure that rises to almost 90 per cent when asked about aunts and uncles.
He said: “I have two brothers and we absolutely talk about the risks of prostate cancer and prevention.”
Ugo said he wanted daughters Phoenix, five, and two-year-old Ruby to also be aware of their family medical history.
To download the Father’s Day card and find out more about the Know Your Roots campaign log on to: https://www.genesiscare.com/uk/know-your-roots
