By India McCarty
John Tesh recently opened up about how his wife, actress Connie Selleca, has saved his life throughout his 10-year battle with prostate cancer.
“I’m incredibly grateful, because it has been literally a 10-and-a-half-year journey [from] when I was first diagnosed in 2015,” the former TV host and Emmy-winning musician told ABC.
At the time of his diagnosis, Tesh was told he would only live for about 18 more months.
“I just was like, ‘OK, this is over,’” he said. “And so, there was some tears. It’s like getting a brick in the face,” said Tesh. “And my wife, who is a faith-filled Italian girl from the Bronx, just rose up, and she [said] that ‘this is not us.’”
He added, “It was a battle, and it was a couple’s battle, and we’ve won it.”
Tesh and Selleca wed in 1992. Both born-again Christians, the couple were open about their decision to practice abstinence before their marriage.
“Connie is a good girl,” he told PEOPLE in a 1992 interview. “And I am proud of her for it. We wanted to go slow…We talked about [the abstinence] first. Even if Connie and I could not have sex for the rest of our lives, we would not leave this relationship.”
Tesh later recalled the wedding, sharing, “I started to cry when I saw Connie, ’cause she was so beautiful…I kept thinking I got real lucky, and God was the one that did this.”
In an interview with Closer Weekly, Tesh shared how the couple’s faith both carried them through his cancer battle.
“I had two major surgeries, then chemo, then took a drug that sucks all the testosterone out of you. You go through menopause, night sweats, can’t eat or sleep, and the cancer kept coming back,” he explained. “During that time, we discovered Scriptures in the Bible related to healing that we started studying. I began to get well, and then they found three or four spots and wanted to irradiate my pelvis with 62 treatments. [That’s when] we realized I was done with treatment. That was two years ago, and all the markers indicate there’s no cancer in my body.”
Tesh continued, “My dad [died of cancer] when I was 30. Both of my sisters died of cancer, and my mother, so I was worried about ‘catching cancer’ my whole life. It’s my feeling that that worry contributed to manifesting my cancer. And now having the obligation of the cure, we go into hospitals, lay hands on the sick. It’s my life.”
Tesh and Selleca’s faith-filled marriage has carried them through good times and bad, and now, the couple are focusing on their blessings.
Read Next: Former ET Host John Tesh Shares His Testimony of Faith in Suffering
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