Johnnie Walker: BBC Radio 2 DJ legend in huge health update as doctors tell him he could die 'at any moment'

BBC Radio 2 legend Johnnie Walker has revealed that doctor have told him he could die “at any moment”.

The iconic broadcaster, 79, has been recording his radio shows at his Dorset home since the Covid pandemic after he was diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. Walker still presents on BBC Radio 2 show Sounds of the 70s, which airs on Sunday afternoons, and The Radio 2 Rock Show, which airs on Friday nights.

Terminally ill Walker is being cared for at home by his wife, Tiggy. In a recent episode of the BBC Sounds show Walker and Walker: Johnnie and Tiggy, Tiggy recalled the moment that consultants told the radio legend that he should “prepare to go to any moment”, adding: “Equally, you might be around for six months.” She also spoke about the moment Walker’s health took a turn for the worst, when he travelled to Wogan House in London to broadcast on New Years’ Eve, She said: "I expected him to be tired the next day, but something far worse happened. The effort had been too great on his already sick body. It was as if his health fell off a cliff." Walker, who previously battled cancer after being diagnosed in 2006, said of his wife during the special show: “You definitely saved my life when I went through cancer. I’m positive I wouldn’t have made it without you. Your love was just so sustaining, it gave me so much to look forward to. And your caring for me now makes my life so much better.”

Walker joined the BBC in 1969 when he worked on Radio 1. He left the station to head for the US after he was involved in a dispute with bosses after criticising The Bay City Rollers on air while at the height of their popularity. He returned to Radio 1 in 1987, before moving to BBC Radio 5 and later joining Radio 2 in 1997.