When Peter Stringfellow was diagnosed with cancer in 2008, he kept his brave battle against the disease secret.
The nightclub mogul , who has died aged 77, was shocked by the unexpected news and only told his very close family and friends.
Lifelong non-smoker Peter ordered a total press blackout because he didn't want any sympathy.
The news finally leaked in 2015 - nearly six years after doctors found a life-threatening tumour in his lungs during a regular prostate check.
"I do feel guilty about not telling the press at the time," Peter told the Express in 2016.
"But I didn’t want to be known as ‘poor old Pete who had cancer’. I think I just wanted to avoid all the sympathy," he continued.
"But every year since I have felt more and more guilty because, if I had made it known more widely, there’s a chance I might have been able to help other men in a similar position."
He was diagnosed because of a mistake when he went to hospital to have his prostate checked.
But doctors had him down for a full body scan – and found a tiny patch on his lung.
Peter told the Mirror: “I was told if I’d waited until I had symptoms like coughing and wheezing it would have been too late to save me.
“I couldn’t believe it when they said it was the Big C and it was lung cancer. I’ve never smoked in my life and it’s the worst cancer you can get at my age.”
Former ballet dancer Bella helped nurse him back to health after his secret ordeal in 2008.
“I’m a very lucky man,” says Peter. “I’m alive because of a mistake, really.
"I only went for a test because I’d seen a number of friends being diagnosed with prostate cancer and thought it might be worthwhile to get myself checked out.
“I had none of the usual symptoms like peeing in the night, so I felt the chances were low.
"It was by pure mistake my cancer was discovered because the doctors had me down for a full body scan.
"I was insistent I only needed one from the waist down, but in the end I just said, ‘Oh what the hell. I’m here now. Let’s get on with it.’
“And thank God I did, because they found the tiniest spot on my lung. Everyone of a certain age should get checked.”
They found there was a two per cent chance of it being cancer.
Surgeons had to remove one of Peter’s ribs, half his lung and lymph nodes in an eight-hour op to make sure he was clear of the disease . His recovery was long and slow.
“Bella took it harder than me,” said Peter.
“She was very fearful for my future. But she was incredibly brave and nursed me back to health, even though she’s the most squeamish person I know.
“There were moments of humour, though. I’d shuffle around the ward attached to a catheter, a blood bag and a drip, and I’d say to her, ‘I don’t want people to recognise me’.
"She’d say, ‘Well it might help if you didn’t wear a leopard skin dressing gown’. I married Bella three months later, and looking at the wedding photos I can see I wasn’t right,” he said.
“I was a lot thinner. I consider myself a very lucky man.”