The Apprentice’s Tim Campbell: Men need to talk about their health, not just football

“I’m a bit of a nutter,” says Tim Campbell with a laugh. “Rolling around in kimonos, trying not to get my arm or legs broken…” The 49-year-old is talking about his latest martial arts infatuation, Brazilian jiu-jitsu. “I love martial arts because I like doing things that are hard, because actually, it makes other hard stuff, in an uncontrolled environment, easier to deal with,” he explains wisely.

Campbell, who, in 2005 became the first winner of the British version of The Apprentice, also describes himself as “a glass half-full person” making him the ideal guy – tough but positive – to tackle hard conversations around health. Hence why the London-born businessman and entrepreneur is a longtime collaborator of Prostate Cancer UK.

Prostate cancer kills 12,000 men a year in the UK, and is England’s most common cancer, while one in four black men will get the disease. “As an individual of African heritage, I’m twice as likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer, that is something I’m really aware of,”  says Campbell. The dad-of-two notes there’s a legacy of men not being overly proactive about seeing their GP, let alone talking about health problems with their mates, but he wants to change that.

“As well as talking about football and music, we should be talking about our health,” he says. “We need more men to talk to other men about this. When we’re out at parties or football or down the barbers or in the sauna, to make it a common thing, like, ‘Have you had a PSA check?’”

He knows just how vital early diagnosis can be. In his mid-30s, Campbell was diagnosed with testicular cancer. “It was a shock,” he recalls. “I remember the doctor telling me the C word, and I just blanked out because I didn’t comprehend how someone my age, who was relatively fit, healthy, ran marathons, rode long distances on bikes, how was I being told that I had cancer? I didn’t comprehend.” Luckily, it was caught and treated early. “It was very scary, but I look back on it with gratitude now, because it’s made me very aware of my health and how important our medical professionals are.”

He credits his wife, Jasmine, with nudging him to see the doctor. “[She said], ‘Tim, you’ve said you’re a bit tired, lethargic, go and get checked,’” he says. “I owe her my life, because maybe if I’d left it longer, the tumour I had to have removed might have been too big to be removed and spread to other places.”

“The women in my life regularly talk about their health conditions, their periods, menopause, smear tests, mammograms. These are just normal conversations women tend to have,” he continues, noting it’s time men started having them too.

“[Late reality star] Jade Goody, right? God rest her soul. What she did normalising the conversation around cervical cancer was transformational. What [late charity campaigner] Deborah James did around the bowel cancer conversation was transformational. It made it acceptable to talk about it,” says Campbell with feeling. “I want stories like Sir Chris Hoy’s (who has terminal stage 4 prostate cancer) and others to be that catalyst for men to know what a PSA check is.”

He understands that rumours about what’s involved can build “fear and trepidation” but: “The facts are, you can go to your GP, as I have done, and ask them for a PSA check if you have any of the risk factors. That involves a simple blood test. It’s not indicative, and it’s not the only test you should do, but it’s something you can go and have a conversation about.”

Believe it or not, Campbell even chats to Sir Alan Sugar about this stuff. As one of Sir Sugar’s aides on the latest series on The Apprentice, 20 years on from not having the words, ‘You’re fired’ thrown at him, Campbell is “sitting next to one of the UK’s most successful and highly regarded entrepreneurs, helping him find his next business partner”. “It’s a great privilege,” he says. “We often have conversations about health. He’s slightly older than I am (Sugar is 78), but he’s in great health.”

Campbell is not far off 50, which he calls “humbling, because I make audible sounds now when I get up!” Ever the optimist, he says, “I’m grateful. I’ve got tons of experience that stops me doing stupid stuff. I’m very grateful I grew up in an age where social media didn’t exist. But also I’m not complacent of the fact that I’m here, because for many people, that’s not a reality. That makes me want to do as much as I can.”

Alongside martial arts, he does breath work, “to help calm me in situations or motivate me in others”. “I think when people think about mental health, they only think about deregulation, removing stress, but actually, sometimes I need it to energise me to be motivated to do the bits that are not always purposeful in my life,” he muses. “You’ve got to manage your mental health just like you manage your physical health.”

And instead of finding the ultimate work/life balance, he’s all about finding a work/life blend, inspired by his friend, businesswoman Karen Blackett OBE. “The reality for most of us is that work is going to take up a significant amount of our time, because we have to live. It actually builds fulfilment if you’re doing something that’s purpose driven,” he says. “Work/life balance almost creates this false economic condition of opportunity/cost, where it’s, give up your time to work so you can’t do the thing you love. But actually, what Karen really talks passionately about is finding something that gives you joy, that is your work.”

Campbell wants “more people to find the thing that gives them joy, and then get paid for it, because then you don’t need so much of a work/life balance. You just might need a holiday,” he says with a laugh.

Before you book that holiday though, see your GP about anything worrying you. “Get checked as quickly as possible, because you’re not wasting anyone’s time,” says Campbell. “It’s much better to be told there’s nothing to worry about than to be told there’s nothing we can do.”

Tim Campbell is a supporter of Prostate Cancer UK, the official men’s health charity partner of the 2026 MOBO Awards and sponsor of the Best Male Act category, raising lifesaving awareness of black men’s higher risk of prostate cancer and campaigning to fight health inequalities across the UK. You can check your risk online in just 30 seconds by visiting Prostate Cancer UK’s Risk Checker at: prostatecanceruk.org/risk.