Former Grange Hill star Lee MacDonald has revealed he’s to undergo a medical procedure to remove pre-cancerous cells after spotting a ‘little rash’ on his cheek
Grange Hill’s Zammo actor Lee MacDonald has revealed a terrifying cancer scare after spotting a “little rash”. The actor, 57, appeared on Good Morning Britain and revealed he will have the small mark on his cheek burnt off due to it having pre-cancerous cells.
Lee informed his social media followers that he had his first scare with the condition just last year after a similar blemish was discovered on his face. Following last year’s scare, Lee consulted his general practitioner due to a “little rash” on his cheek and was informed of the outcome.
“It’s a keratosis, which is a pre-cancerous spot, so I’m going to have it burnt out,” he said, before revealing the small spot could turn into cancer if left untreated. He encouraged viewers to concentrate on skincare, including wearing sunscreen and “looking at blemishes” on the face.
Lee MacDonald has opened up about his skin cancer scare (
Image:
ITV)
He commented: “It was just on the back of going to get it checked out.” However, it is a condition which runs in the family. Lee explained to anchors Susanna Reid and Richard Madeley that his father was a driver and would sit with his arm out of the car window, with his mum expressing her concerns.
“Later in life, he had a skin cancer from that arm,” he said. Richard also explained that it’s a common form of cancer for lorry drivers across the United States, who rest their arms on the windows of vehicles. “It’s really common in America, they do these huge long distances on the highway, with one elbow out of the window.”
Lee spotted a small blemish on his face which turned out to be pre-cancerous cells (
Image:
ITV)
Lee recalled using sunbeds in his earlier years before heading out on a night out, explaining he would lie on the sunbed for an hour each week, split between a Tuesday and Thursday, between the ages of 17 and 26.
“That’s what the doctor said, it probably is, it’s probably the sunbeds and not sunlight, because I don’t like the sun that much because of being aware of the risks.”
Now, when Lee goes fishing each weekend with his son, he is frequently topping up his sunscreen, even on cloudy days. “Funnily enough, I got told off by his step-mum because he was burnt – it wasn’t even that sunny,” he said, adding: “The rays were coming through. Yeah, cover-up.”
The actor who played young Zammo revealed that he would use sunbeds for an hour a week on a Tuesday and a Thursday for around ten years (
Image:
BBC)However, Susanna had a clever and safe way to top up a tan, saying: “I recommend getting it from a can, that’s much safer,” while she spoke about fake tanning.
And despite speculation about a possible Grange Hill return, Lee revealed that he hadn’t heard anything official. “There’s been a few whispers in the background,” he revealed, before adding: “It’s still in the background. I would definitely be up for that, absolutely.”
Although Lee left the programme in 1987, he is often stopped in the street with people calling him by his characters name. “I love it, I had such a good time doing it,” he said.
