The Max Factor with Max Clifford
Above: British comedy actor Ben Miller (left) and Dallas star Patrick Duffy pose with Max and his partner, Jo, in Max’s Burwood Park home (Photo by Andy Newbold)
Above: Max and Jo in Dublin with their friends Chris and Don Morgan
Above: Max with singer-songwriter Omar Simon
Originally published in June 2008's Surrey Life magazineEvery month, Elmbridge resident Max Clifford gives us an insight into his busy life in the county and beyondSouthfork comes to Surrey!
My American neighbours in Burwood Park were reminded of Dallas last week when Patrick Duffy (aka Bobby Ewing) came to my house.
I was asked to film with Patrick and British actor Ben Miller for the pilot of a potential new BBC TV drama series. Called Celebrity Divorce, it’s a work of fiction inspired by real events that happen in the private lives of stars. It shows the important part the media plays in the lives and careers of the rich and famous and how image and reality often have very little in common.
Patrick plays a major star caught up in a scandal that threatens his marriage and his career. He comes to me for advice and guidance as to the most effective way to control and contain the potential disaster confronting him.
There was no script – just ad-libbing – easy for me, however, as it’s the kind of thing that, increasingly, I have been doing in real life over the past 40 years.
Patrick is a really friendly guy and I sincerely hope the series gets the green light from the BBC.
Max’s Riverdance debutI had a busy weekend in Dublin recently – a TV chat show, a charity dinner and plenty of Irish dancing! The TV programme was Ryan Tubridy’s chat show, the Irish equivalent of Jonathan Ross.
Boyzone were also guests on the show as part of their current re-launch and my old mate, Louis Walsh, who manages the band, was with them. Louis also manages Westlife and, of course, appears on X Factor.
When I saw him, Louis was raving about a brilliant new singer-songwriter called Omar Simon who was also on the show. Omar reminds me very much of Errol Brown, who lives down here in Surrey, and who enjoyed such success with Hot Chocolate many years ago. Great voice and great songs – definitely a name to watch and listen out for.
Jo and I took our friends Chris and Don Morgan, from Leatherhead, along with us, and although of Irish extraction, little did I realise what a brilliant Irish dancer Chris is. For two nights running, we finished up late at night in a bar called Foley’s, just across the road from the lovely Merrion Hotel where we stayed.
The music was lively and Chris’s Irish dancing got the whole place jumping. A cop from Ohio, a vicar from Canada and visitors from Poland and Spain all joined Chris, myself and the locals with our ‘individual’ attempts at Riverdance.
Dublin is such a lively, lovely place to visit and the people are always so warm and friendly, which is why I am always happy to take any opportunity to go back.
A word of warningBack in October, I was diagnosed with the early signs of prostate cancer. Regular PSA (prostate specific antigen) tests – a simple five minute blood test – revealed that my PSA had doubled in four months – a clear warning sign.
Further tests, including an ultra-sound followed by a biopsy, revealed two of 12 slithers taken from my prostate showed malignant cancer cells.
Dr Nick Ploughman – a leading prostate cancer specialist – discussed the three main options open to me. It turned out I could have had radio-active seeds implanted, radiotherapy or have my prostate removed.
Dr Ploughman recommended radiotherapy as the best for me and I had 38 treatments over nine weeks at the Cromwell Hospital, which finished four weeks ago. The Cromwell Hospital in London has a special radiotherapy machine – one of only three in the country – which is accurate within a hair’s breadth, so as well as maximising the attack on the cancerous area, there is less radiation to areas close by, such as the bladder, and consequently there are fewer side-effects. Many people suffer side-effects including lethargy and diarrhoea, but touch wood and whistle, I just feel more tired. I still have a good appetite, play tennis three times a week and swim nearly every day. I’ve now had the full course of treatment and have been told I have an 85 per cent chance of a complete recovery.
Prostate Cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK, representing a quarter of all new cancer cases diagnosed. In the US, more than 60% of men over 50 regularly have a PSA test and death from prostate cancer has hugely reduced.
In this country, fewer than 10% of men have this simple test and prostate cancer rates have tripled over the past 30 years.
So, if you are over 50 and male, take a few minutes once a year to have a PSA test. It could save your life as hopefully it will save mine. Incidentally, I would like to thank everybody from all over Surrey, and in fact all over Britain, who have written so many lovely letters of support since I announced in the media recently about my condition.
Max has kindly donated his fee for this month’s column to the White Lodge Centre, in Chertsey, which supports disabled children and adults and their families or carers. For more details, visit
www.whitelodgecentre.co.uk or call 01932 567131
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