Lloyd Webber: I had a feeling something was wrong

Andrew Lloyd Webber says his prostate cancer was discovered when he went for tests after 'having a funny feeling something was wrong'.

Lord Lloyd Webber, 61, is about to launch BBC One's Over the Rainbow, a search for an unknown to play Dorothy in The Wizard Of Oz, following the success of TV shows to find leads for The Sound Of Music, Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Oliver!

Lord Lloyd Webber, whose latest musical Love Never Dies has received mixed reviews, told Radio Times he had an inkling that something was not right before he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

He said: "I did know that something was very odd. When I finished the recording of the (Love Never Dies) album I thought I should have the tests done and be checked out.

"I didn't know I had the cancer, but I did have a funny feeling that something was wrong. I didn't articulate it like that. I didn't think, 'I must get it out of me.' Nothing showed up on the tests. It was only later, when the biopsy was done..."

The composer, who's now 'in the clear', said: "They did some tests last week and nothing is showing up. Once you've had something like this you go every six months.

"Getting your continence back happens pretty quickly. I swim quite a lot. I didn't find that difficult. Sex drive does take a while to come back but, frankly, I've had five children, so in my case it's probably not a bad idea!

"The most important thing is my children have a father and my wife has a husband."