A Hey Hey It’s Saturday star has revealed a shock cancer diagnosis following a routine dental check.

A Hey Hey It’s Saturday star has revealed he has been diagnosed with the same cancer as John Blackman and John Farnham following a routine dental check.

Wilbur Wilde revealed on Monday he was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma.

The 69-year-old played the saxophone in Hey Hey It’s Saturday’s house band from 1984 until 1999, and again from 2009 to 2010.

Wilde proceeded to have part of his tongue and mouth removed.

Wilbur Wilde played the saxophone in Hey Hey It’s Saturday’s house band. Picture: Supplied

Wilbur Wilde revealed he was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma and had his tongue and mouth removed. Picture: Supplied/Wilbur Wilde
“It was a shock,” he told the Herald Sun.

“I can’t say I was scared… I just try to deal with things on their merits and not coping was not an option for me.

“I have not been cavalier about this. I have gotten on with my life, but I have taken it very seriously and I have had great advice along the way from people whose opinions I have great respect for.”

Just three weeks post-operation Wilbur Wilde (far right) was able to play the saxophone as a form of rehabilitation for his mouth and tongue. Picture: Supplied
Wilde revealed his dentist first discovered the discolouration in his mouth at the end of 2022.

A biopsy was ordered after it failed to disappear. A few weeks later the results revealed it was cancer.

The 69-year-old underwent surgery in the beginning of 2023 to have a third of his tongue and the floor of his mouth removed.

Wilde admitted he was concerned about how the removal of his tongue would affect pronunciation and articulation.

Wilbur Wilde revealed his dentist first discovered the discolouration in his mouth at the end of 2022. Picture: Supplied/Wilbur Wilde
The musician worked with a speech pathologist post-surgery to strengthen and stretch his tongue.

Just three weeks post-operation he was able to play the saxophone as a form of rehabilitation for his mouth and tongue.

Wilde was incredibly fortunate the cancer was detected in its early stages after now being declared “cancer clear”.

The entertainer, who gave up smoking 20 years ago, said he was shattered when he realised he had the same cancer as fellow Hey Hey It’s Saturday star John Blackman.

“I had seen the way my friend John Blackman had handled this, so I had a frame of reference and I was so lucky to have had it detected as early as we did,” he said at the time.

Blackman died at the age of 76 in June of 2024, after he battled the cancer and had surgery to remove his jaw.

Meanwhile, John Farnham underwent the same battle too and is now on the long road to recovery following major surgery to remove a cancerous tumour from his mouth in 2022.