The Apprentice star Claude Littner takes our health quiz

CAN YOU RUN UP THE STAIRS?

Yes, I live in a three-storey house and can run up the stairs easily enough. 

I was very sporty as a young man, doing everything from playing football and tennis to skiing. 

I spend a lot of time running around while making The Apprentice, but I’m not the sort who laboriously goes to the gym.

Claude Littner (pictured) from the television programme The World’s Maddest Job Interview

GET YOUR FIVE A DAY?  

Possibly not. I love fruit, particularly apples and peaches, but I’m not so mad about vegetables. 

My wife, Thelma, usually makes sure there are greens on my plate, though I must admit I don’t always eat them.

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EVER DIETED?  

I stopped having sugar in my tea a few years ago and lost quite a bit of weight — but now I don’t worry about it. 

I’m 5 ft 8 in and weigh about 13½ st. I’m comfortable and happy as I am.

ANY VICES?  

Chocolate is my weakness. Give me a bar of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk or Fruit Nut and I’ll have the lot. 

I’m quite partial to cheesecake, too, not to mention cheese. But I don’t really drink and I’ve never touched cigarettes.

The 67-year-old says he is partial to cheesecake and chocolate, but does not really drink and has never touched cigarettes

ANY FAMILY AILMENTS? 

My mother had a stroke in her mid-60s and my father died of cancer of the intestine aged 72.

But he had a very different diet to mine — he ate a lot of bread, butter and jam, and that’s simply not good for you. 

I have regular health check-ups. In April, I had stents put in to open up a couple of blocked arteries.

WORST ILLNESS OR INJURY? 

I had Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma [cancer of the lymph nodes and lymphatic system] in 1997, which left me at death’s door. 

It started with a grapefruit-sized tumour in my groin. I had a lot of chemotherapy to shrink the tumour. 

Claude (pictured) says he had Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma [cancer of the lymph nodes and lymphatic system] in 1997, which left him at death’s door

Eventually it killed it off, though by then I weighed less than 9 st. Then the cancer returned. 

My sister’s stem cells had to be injected into me as the chemotherapy had compromised my bone marrow, so my body was not able to produce healthy blood cells. 

In 2000, I was given the all-clear and I’ve been fighting fit ever since.

HAD ANYTHING REMOVED? 

Nothing bar the tumour, and the odd tooth.

EVER HAVE PLASTIC SURGERY? 

No, I prefer to grow old gracefully.

From this year’s season of The Apprentice. Claude says he has experienced a lot of stress as a result of his work and can’t help wondering whether it was a contributory factor to his cancer

COPE WELL WITH PAIN?  

I don’t like being in pain, but I’ll only reach for a paracetamol as a last resort.

IS SEX IMPORTANT?  

Yes, of course — it’s wonderful!

TRIED ALTERNATIVE THERAPIES? 

I once tried acupuncture for backache, but I didn’t find it hugely beneficial.

EVER BEEN DEPRESSED? 

No, but I’ve experienced a lot of stress as a result of my work and I can’t help wondering whether that was a contributory factor to my cancer.

Claude (far right) is currently hosting this year’s season of The Apprentice. Here pictured with co-hosts Lord Alan Sugar (middle) and Karren Brady (left) 

HANGOVER CURE? 

I get drunk very quickly, so I tend to avoid alcohol.

BIGGEST PHOBIA?  

I have an irrational fear of being trapped, so I need to have an aisle seat at a football match.

Similarly, I hate being stuck in the corner of a room at a party.

Single-Minded: My Life In Business by Claude Littner (Piatkus, £18.99).