Nathan Henry breaks down in tears over brutal question about terminally ill dad

Daily Mirror

13-07-2025

EXCLUSIVE: Geordie Shore icon Nathan Henry shares a brand new side to him in an emotional series filmed about his dad, who is living with stage four lung cancer
Geordie Shore star Nathan Henry gave fans the chance to get to know him and his family in a way he's never done so before in his new series. While the classic MTV programme captured all of the 34-year-old's wildest nights out and messy, drunken antics, he "faces the reality of his own family" in the new series, Geordie Stories: Nathan and Dad.
The four-part series, airing weekly on YouTube, follows the Henry family navigating their new normal after his father, Glen, was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. In the raw and honest series, Nathan seeks advice from friends and experts as he creates sweet new memories with Glen.
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Nathan revealed the cancer was 'terminal but manageable' with Glen needing to be on pills, as radiotherapy was out of the question due to his pacemaker. To better understand his journey as well as seek solace from a friend, Nathan approached pal Gabby Allen, whose dad died from brain cancer, for advice.
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He also went to Ex On The Beach star Ashley Cain to learn new methods of coping during difficult, life-changing situations. Ashley and her ex-partner Safiyya Vorajee's daughter was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukaemia at eight weeks old. She sadly passed away at eight months old in 2021.
At one emotional moment in the series, Nathan and his dad attended a support meeting organised by Cancer Black Care - an organisation offering advice, counselling, help with social services, support groups while lobbying for improved cancer services.
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During the group discussion that saw attendees discuss their experiences living with cancer, Nathan was asked a seemingly simple question that knocked him through a loop like emotional whiplash.
"Do you have any support?" someone turned to Nathan and asked, which left him lost for words as he finally managed to admit: "I don't know." In an exclusive interview with the Mirror, Nathan said he initially reacted 'logically' when he learned about his father's diagnosis and spent most of the time busy taking care of his family.
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However, it wasn't until he was asked the weighted question that he broke down in tears over everything that had happened to him and his family in recent years.
He spent so long worrying about everyone in his family's health that he forgot to think about his own pain and emotional turmoil. "That question caught me off guard as I was thinking in my head, 'We're not here for me, we're here for my dad'," he told us.
"When she asked me whether I had support, I said I didn't know. Obviously, my friends asked me questions, even my boyfriend asked me questions, but at that point, I didn't talk to them. Not because they might not have said the right thing or they didn't understand. It was because I was too busy being there for my dad and too busy being there for my family. I don't even have time to check in on me and what I'm feeling when I get home."
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Nathan continued: "I do self-care stuff, I might have a pamper to take my mind off things but I wouldn't sit in my house and dwell on it and I wouldn't think about it, so when that lady asked me that question, I was like, I don't know. I need a moment to think about it. The thing is, because she asked me that, when I got home, I fully broke down crying and I was like it just hit me.
Speaking about his breakdown, which fans see a glimpse of in the show, he said: "I was like, 'F**k'. She really asked a question that I didn't know the answer to and now, I think that big cry I had, releasing that emotion… At that point, I don't think I'd cried properly from the three years ago from the diagnosis to now.
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"It was like three years of crying came out. Even the next morning, I woke up and I cried for three hours. I had to go to my mum's and just sit there and I was still crying. My mum was like, 'What is it?' I was like, 'Please don't talk to me, I just need you to sit there and let me cry but I need someone there'. That was what I needed and I cuddled the dogs, I cried.
"My mum must have thought I was an absolute psychopath because I've cried for three hours but she just sat there playing Candy Crush, not speaking to me, and then all of a sudden I wiped my tears and I went, 'Right, see you later then!'. And she was like, 'What? Is that it? What's happened?' I was like, 'No, I'm done. I've finished. I got it all out. I'm off now Bye'."
The reality star icon wanted to share his father's story in hopes of helping someone, all while getting to know his dad, but he did worry about how Glen would come across on television.
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"He was more open. I think I might have been the problem," he said as he recalled filming for the first few days. "My dad was more open to talk about his cancer, but I was more protective. You know the part where we do our interview questions?
"[Producers] were asking questions and I was being more protective and answering for my dad. One day we went for dinner just before we were filming they said, 'I know it's hard because we are talking about this stuff.'
"From being on TV I know how to edit myself and I was trying to edit my dad for him they told me, 'We want this to be raw. You need to stop cutting in and let your dad speak'."
The Macmillan Support Line offers confidential support to people living with cancer and their loved ones. If you need to talk, call us on 0808 808 0000.