Tenor Russell Watson awarded honorary degree by University of Greater Manchester
The classical crossover star was first diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2006 after experiencing blurred peripheral vision.
The tumour was successfully removed during emergency surgery at St George's Hospital in Tooting, south London.
A year later, a recurrence on his pituitary gland required a second emergency operation at the Alexandra Hospital in Cheadle, Greater Manchester.
Watson, who was conferred the title of doctor of arts (Hon DArts) at the ceremony on Friday, said: 'This is such an honour, I am so proud to be standing here today.
'My health battles graphically highlighted to me the amazing job done by staff in our NHS.
'I would not be here today without their wonderful care and support.
'So it is fantastic to see the University of Greater Manchester's continued commitment to training the healthcare workforce of the future and its new Medical School which I understand will welcome its first students in September.
'I want others to receive the kind of life-saving treatment that I did, to give that gift of time for which I'm so grateful every day.'
Watson underwent intensive rehabilitation, hormone replacement therapy and struggled with mental health challenges during his recovery.
At one point, doctors feared he would never sing again.
But he returned to the stage and rebuilt his career.
This year marks a quarter of a century since the release of his acclaimed debut album, The Voice, and he is due to embark on The Evolution Tour in October and November.
Watson, who born into a working class family in Salford in the late 1960s, also praised the university's commitment to opportunity and inclusivity.
'It is fantastic that this university offers the chance for people from all backgrounds and ages to improve their lives for the better,' he said.
'People should be able to achieve their dreams with the right support and it is clear that you have been supported every step of the way.
'My diagnosis changed everything but I am living proof that you should never give up if you want to continue to do the thing you love.
'You should be so proud that you are here today celebrating your graduation.
'It is the result of a lot of hard work and determination and I am honoured to be sharing this moment with you.'
Watson's Evolution Tour takes place throughout October and November and tickets are on sale now.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
6 hours ago
- The Guardian
1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story review – the troubling tale of sex with 1,057 men in 12 hours
For those of you pure of heart and internet search history, Bonnie Blue (real name: Tia Billinger) is famous for being one of the most popular and highest-earning content creators to have appeared on more-or-less porn site OnlyFans. To fulfil her ambition of earning £5m a month from subscribers she needed a USP. She found it in pursuing 'barely legal' sex – traditionally one of the most searched-for terms in porn – with the twist that instead of men searching for videos of other men having sex with teenage (or teenage-looking, depending on how many internet layers you're prepared to sift through for your purposes) girls, Billinger offered herself to young men. She had sex with them for free on condition that they gave permission for her to upload the footage to her OnlyFans account, where her subscribers pay to access her content. 'She is a marketing genius,' says one of the team she has gathered round her to help administrate her growing empire. She has, in essence, introduced an entirely new way of doing porn-business. If she were working in any other field – if she had stayed in her previous job as a finance recruiter for the NHS, perhaps – and innovated to the same extent, she would probably be hailed as an extraordinary entrepreneur. She also specialises in gang bangs, putting calls out on her social media channels for volunteers ('I'm in London, on my back, and I'd like your load'), with no shortage of willing participants. 1000 Men and Me: the Bonnie Blue Story is a documentary by Victoria Silver, who became aware of Billinger's existence through what the algorithm was serving up to Silver's 15-year-old daughter on her social media feeds. It follows Bonnie/Tia as she prepares for ('1,600 condoms, 50 balaclavas, numbing lube') and executes her most infamous endeavour – having sex with 1,000 (1,057, it turns out – 'barely legal or barely breathing … come and rearrange my insides') men in 12 hours. It proved too extreme for OnlyFans – or at least for Visa, who processes its online payments – and she has since had to move elsewhere to continue her campaign for lucrative online-world domination. Naturally, the media – online, legacy and everything in between – has had a field day with all this. They've labelled her everything from predator to victim (she denies both, saying she has no 'daddy issues', no trauma in her past and none induced by her work since). She has been accused of being a traitor ('you're giving into the patriarchy'), and has received multitudinous insults ('disgusting, deplorable slapper' is one we hear from an online commenter). Although Silver's six months in Billinger's company doesn't provide much in the way of decisive evidence or insight, it does show the star to be as steely in her approach to her career as she is Stakhanovite in her labours. When she needs to court attention, the easiest way is often to insult the wives and girlfriends of the men who watch her and come to her events. 'I just loved … knowing I was doing something their wives should have done.' She recommends bringing their partners' underwear along. 'I'll make them smell MUCH nicer'. And just remember, she confides to camera, 'that if a girl says she's on her period, there's nothing wrong with her throat.' But, Silver remains essentially unconfrontational in her approach, and no match for one as robust and unfazed by other people's opinions as Billinger. The latter claims that her career is what feminism has fought for 'for years and years'. So, if young girls are seeing her content and fearing that this is what they should be offering boys? Then it's up to their parents to teach them that it's not for everyone. The idea of a collective or social responsibility, any considerations beyond the purely individual and/or financial gain no traction. Silver rarely pushes back, even when Billinger recruits visibly nervous, deliberately young-looking female content creators for a video in a 'sex education lesson' where performers roleplay students – she asks nothing about possible harms to them or in encouraging male fantasies around girls too young to consent. The basilisk Blue stare seems to hold her in its thrall. There are only perhaps two moments that, for me, come close to revealing anything about Billinger, and even these are only a measure of – maybe – how deep the traits she has already willingly shown us run. The first is her comment: 'Everyone says my brain works different. I'm just not emotional … If I don't want to get upset, I won't get upset.' It reminds me of the statistics that show a high proportion of CEOs and the like – and what is Billinger if not her own CEO – are technically sociopaths. And the second is that when she computes the risk of being insulted in the street she says: 'At least they're getting off the sofa.' This 26-year-old woman who spurned university as unnecessary, was driving a Mercedes C-class by the age of 19, and bought a house shortly thereafter. Hard graft seems to be a high calling, laziness the only sin. Do I admire her work ethic and facility for business? Yes. Do I wish we lived in a world where the best option for realising those talents as a young woman was not through making online porn? Yes. Do I see where we go from here? Yes, I do. And Billinger will be fine. Beyond that individual? Not so much. Not so much. 1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story is available on Channel 4.
Daily Mirror
8 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Unseen Bonnie Blue images reveal adult star's old life as a married NHS worker
Bonnie Blue has shared unseen snaps of herself from her previous life as she takes to Channel 4 for a shocking new documentary titled 1,000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story The rise of Bonnie Blue has sent shockwaves throughout the world, with her controversial approach to gaining fame being widely criticised. She has made millions from porn, inviting multiple fans to have sex with her and also posting film of what some people would call orgies, but she calls 'events', online. Her most outrageous event came in January when she is said to have slept with 1,057 men in just 12 hours. It's this shocking event that has been the inspiration for the title of a new Channel 4 documentary, 1,000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story. And now, with the documentary set to air, the 26-year-old former NHS recruitment worker's former life has been laid bare. Bonnie, who is from Derbyshire and whose real name is Tia Billinger, says in the documentary: 'The last time I went out by myself was probably about six months ago. Now it is not that safe. 'I get 100s of death threats a day, so it is not that safe when I walk around. I say, 'It is going to happen at some point, someone will come and give me stick' and fair play to her, at least they are getting up off their sofa. My worst one is acid, if someone did acid, and I could see some spiteful girl doing that.' But it wasn't always that way... MORE ON Bonnie Blue Showbiz Snapchat Channel 4
Daily Mirror
12 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Bonnie Blue's doomed marriage to childhood boyfriend who started her sex career
Viral adult star Bonnie Blue has opened up about her failed marriage for the first time in a new Channel 4 documentary that delves into her unusual life behind the scenes Away from extreme sex stunts and bragging about sleeping with married men on social media, Tia Billinger, the real woman behind the Bonnie Blue persona, has kept her love life largely under wraps. But now she has given a first glimpse into what life is really like behind the scenes of her lucrative porn empire - speaking for the first time about her failed marriage. Bonnie swapped her social media stunts for documentary cameras as she allowed Channel 4 producers complete access to her life for six months. Dark lonely life of Bonnie Blue from acid attack fears and seclusion to divorce 'I saw real Bonnie Blue behind closed doors - there's one dark truth people don't see' A new show, titled "1,000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story" sees the star sat at home surrounded by Pepsi Max cans, delivery boxes and her fluffy white Pomeranian as she completes wholesome puzzles and other crafts. It's world's away from the gritty sex challenges she films at work, including one event that saw her sleep with 1,057 men in just 12 hours. But it's clear that her lifestyle lacks the glitz and glamour you might expect from a 26-year-old millionaire - instead, she seems lonely and isolated and admits she can't leave the house alone and has full time security to protect her. Bonnie, a former NHS recruitment worker from Derbyshire, split up with her husband and childhood sweetheart Oliver Davidson as her career took off. Her closest friends now seem to be Josh, her live-in videographer, and a stylist named Hermes. She says in the show: "My sort of circles got smaller, but my team are also my best friends." It was actually Oliver, or Ollie as he's known to Tia, who encouraged her to move into sex work. "I met Ollie when I was like 14, 15," she explains in the show. "We got married really young. Pretty, quite intimate wedding, nothing crazy, nothing over the top. Then we relocated to Australia shortly afterwards." As Bonnie opens up on her relationship, viewers are shown never-before-seen photos of the couple. One shows a young, make-up Tia posing for a selfie with Ollie as she affectionately pulls him close and holds his face. Another pic shows the couple on their weddding day surrounded by family, with Bonnie dressed in a sparkly silver jumpsuit holding a white bouqet of roses and Ollie in a dapper dark suit. And a third selfie shows the pair smiling on a beach in Australia after the big move, with Bonnie's glitzy wedding and engagement rings on show. "Ollie was beyond supportive, he gave me the confidence to do OnlyFans," the star explains. "And it wasn't because he wanted to pimp me out, he just wanted me to be happy and have control of my life. And obviously the money was good as well." In the documentary, Ollie attends a porn awards ceremony with Bonnie in Vegas. Breaking his silence, he gushes about Bonnie's sex stunts and says he's proud of her. It's the first time he's spoken out about his ex's career, as he's stayed out of the spotlight until now. "She really connects with the fans. Most people, if they do porn, they seem out of reach. You're never going to meet them. You're never going to be able to film with them," he says. "Whereas Bonnie puts a location online, and then obviously her fans can actually film with her. It's like a defining moment in porn, where she's completely changed the game." And in a new interview today, Bonnie shared exactly why things didn't work between her and Ollie. She told the Daily Mail that they broke up some time before she moved back to the UK from Australia in 2024, and that Ollie returned before her. "We loved each other, but we weren't in love. So we separated, but we didn't make it official," she said. "Me doing what I've done recently had nothing to do with the relationship breakdown. But, of course, no one will believe me."
