While on the Today Show, James Michael Tyler, known for playing Gunther, the Central Perk coffee house manager, opened up about his health struggles for the past couple of years! As it turns out, the man was diagnosed with prostate cancer back in 2018 and has been undergoing chemotherapy treatment.
James Michael Tyler is 59 years old and fighting for his life so he got quite emotional talking about it on camera while a guest on the Today Show earlier today.
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‘I got diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer, which had already spread to my bones. It is stage 4, late stage cancer, so eventually, it is gonna probably get me,’ he told the host during the interview.
Aside from his role as Gunther, Tyler has also played guest roles on other big titles such as Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Just Shoot Me and Scrubs!
The actor went on to share that when his cancer was first discovered in 2018, he was treated through hormone therapy, which for the first year, worked perfectly.
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However, during the pandemic, the illness went on to mutate and spread to his spine, causing paraplegia.
‘I missed going in for a test, which was not a good thing,’ he noted.
Tyler mentioned that the producers of Friends have known about his diagnosis for a long time while the cast also knows ‘at this point.’
He explained why he appeared on the Friends reunion special via Zoom and not in person as well, saying that initially, there were plans ‘to be on the stage, at least, with them, and to be able to take part in all the festivities,’ but because his condition is much worse now, that did not end up happening.
‘It was bittersweet, honestly. I was really happy to be included. It was my decision to not0 be a part of it physically and make an appearance on Zoom, because I didn’t want to bring a downer on it, you know? I did not want to be like, ‘Oh, and by the way, Gunther has cancer.’
