Clive James on losing cancer battle: I'm getting near the end of my life

Clive James on losing cancer battle: I'm getting near the end of my life

The Aussie broadcaster, who was diagnosed with leukaemia, kidney failure and lung disease in 2010, said: "I don’t want to cast a gloom, an air of doom, over the programme but I’m a man who is approaching his terminus.”

He told Radio 4’s Meeting Myself Coming Back, to be broadcast on Saturday, he has “been really ill for two and a half years” and “almost died four times in that period”.

The star, 72, who is best known for his hit show Clive James On Television, also said he was saddened by the thought he will never again return to his native Australia.

He revealed: “I’ve been so sick since January 2010, especially my lung disease, that I’m not allowed to fly.

"You couldn’t get enough oxygen aboard a plane for me to get me to Sydney.

"I used to be in Australia for five or six times a year but now I can't go.

"The wistfulness is really building up and I'm facing the possibility I might never see Sydney again."

The father of two, who is married to academic Prue Shaw, also spoke about the “defining event” of his life — the death of his father who survived a Second World War prison camp only to die on the journey back to Australia.

He said: “I never saw him. I think I was in his arms as a baby for one day before he sailed away.”