Inside BBC Radio 2 legend Johnnie Walker's health as presenter quits after 50 years

Johnnie Walker, the legendary DJ, shared that he is quitting his BBC Radio 2 shows due to ill health.

The radio presenter recently revealed that as he battles Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. The esteemed broadcaster, 79, who kick-started his career on the pirate station, Radio Caroline, has been grappling with the lung inflammation condition for four years.

Johnnie, who has been broadcasting his shows from his Dorset residence since the pandemic's onset, is currently under the care of his wife, Tiggy.

Tiggy Walker, a broadcaster and long-time producer herself, stated that she now serves as her husband's "carer 24/7', adding that their lives have transformed beyond "all recognition".

Speaking about Johnnie's health, she shared that a trip to broadcast his show from Wogan's House in London on had a catastrophic impact, sharing: "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," Tiggy further elaborated in Dorset Magazine, reports .

She added: "The weeks that followed were a blur of nurses, doctors, oxygen machines and wheelchairs. In 24 hours, our lives had changed out of all recognition.

"That was in January, and The Pirate has not left home since then. I am a carer 24/7."

Tiggy shared touching details about her husband, celebrated Radio 2 DJ Johnnie Walker, revealing he often records his popular shows "wearing PJ's, sat in a wheelchair with a nose cannula feeding him oxygen."

Highlighting the importance of Johnnie to his devoted audience, Tiggy mentioned the exceptional bond he shares with listeners of Sunday's Sounds of the 70s and Friday's The Radio 2 Rock Show. She expressed her pride, saying: "That's how it should be.

"He's been a part of their lives for so long, and I'm so proud that he finds the strength each week to record his show."

Having experienced a role reversal with Johnnie - initially as his caregiver following his non-Hodgkin's lymphoma diagnosis soon after their honeymoon in 2003, and later when she battled breast cancer in 2013 - Tiggy acknowledges the challenges they've faced as a couple.

In a heart-wrenching recount to the Mirror in 2017, the MBE-honoured DJ disclosed their emotional journey, from being diagnosed with cancer to becoming a support system for each other, saying: "On the evening my wife Tiggy told me she had been diagnosed with breast cancer, we did what any couple probably would we cried and held each other tight.

"Tiggy was so healthy. She ate well, exercised, didn't smoke. It didn't seem possible she could be ill. She was 52 at the time and a picture of wellbeing. We'd felt certain that the lump would be a cyst. I felt physically sick at the news."

He also reminisced finding light even in the grim circumstances, saying: "But in those darkest of moments, we also found the strength to smile. I remember saying to her: 'Well, at least now it's an equal opportunities marriage."