‘ET’ alum John Tesh opens up about 10-year battle with rare cancer

John Tesh says he considers it a miracle that he is still alive after being diagnosed with a rare form of cancer nearly a decade ago.

The former Entertainment Tonight co-host revealed in a new interview that he was diagnosed in 2015 and initially given just 18 months to live.

“I was given 18 months to live,” Tesh told Page Six. “So I’ve been fighting cancer successfully. Still fighting it. It’s still under treatment, on and off.”

The musician added that, rather than achieving full remission, doctors manage the illness with a treatment approach that keeps it stable.

“They will let it grow for a little bit and then get me back on treatment, back and forth,” he explained, describing the process as “pulsing.”

“It’s scary until you get used to it because it’s like, ‘Why am I living with cancer?’”

Tesh credited doctors at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston with helping extend his life, along with the support of his wife, Connie Sellecca, whom he has been married to for more than three decades.

“Without my wife Connie, who has been my advocate over the years, I wouldn’t be talking,” he said. “I’d be dead. I would have been dead in 2015.”

The broadcaster-turned-musician also said his faith has played a key role in helping him cope, citing the Bible verse Mark 11:23, which he has tattooed on his arm.

Tesh left television hosting in 1996 to focus on music and continues to perform and compose. He recently played his well-known NBA theme “Roundball Rock” at the NBA All-Star Game. Besides his music career, he also hosts the radio program Intelligence for Your Life, which airs on hundreds of stations across the United States.