RTE presenter Oliver Callan reveals shock cancer diagnosis which left him unable to talk

Irish funnyman Oliver Callan has opened up about his skin cancer diagnosis on this Monday's episode of his radio show.

He opened the show by thanking Maura Derrane for filling in for him while he had surgery, a procedure which thought would set him back just two days, but was revealed to be longer.

Maura, a usual presenter of Today on RTÉ One, substituted for Oliver for nine days while he recovered.

Sharing his diagnosis on air, he said: "Like thousands of us out there with our Irish skin, I got one of those mild skin cancers.  Basal-cell carcinoma is the official term."

The comedian added: "It doesn't spread to your body so it's not that scary, but it has to be surgically removed." 

Located on his face, between the edge of his nose and corner of his lip, Oliver joked: "A precious place when suddenly someone comes at you with a scalpel!"

He revealed that he couldn't "talk properly" and was told by the doctor "not to laugh out loud, or be left with a nasty scar."

On a positive note, he laughed: "I have also started growing a moustache because I can't shave at the site yet, so as a result I look like something approaching an inept sidekick of  a provincial detective in a 1980s Sunday night TV drama."