SAM Thompson has shared a health update after undergoing surgery to remove a cyst on his vocal cords.
The TV favourite, 33, revealed in January that he would be having the surgery, and underwent the procedure on Tuesday.
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Sam Thompson has shared a health update after undergoing surgery to remove cyst on his vocal cordsCredit: InstagramSam had the surgery on TuesdayCredit: InstagramSam revealed he was bored on the first day of vocal restCredit: Instagram
A day later, Sam shared a snap of him back home as he updated fans on his recovery.
Wearing a T-shirt underneath a zip up hoodie, Sam smiled for the selfie and wrote: “Day 1 of no speaking… I am so bored.
“Although I am LOVING seeing all the cat memes you’re sending!!”
In a video shared from hospital on Tuesday, Sam was seen in his medical gown as he said: “I’m having vocal cord surgery – this has been in the diary for a while, I had a cyst on my vocal cords.
“It’s because I talk to much and shout too loudly and I keep losing my voice really easily.
“So yeah they are cutting it out, they are putting me to sleep, I’ve never been put to sleep before.
“I’m a bit nervous, I don’t like not being in control.”
Sam first revealed the surgery on his podcast with BFF Pete Wicks.
A vocal cord cyst is a benign lesion which may cause a hoarse voice.
They often occur in those who over-use their voice, such as singers, professional speakers and broadcasters and the cysts happen when glands that produce mucus in the throat get blocked up.
According to NHS after-care advice from London-based Guys and St Thomas’, they state: “For the first three days after the operation, we recommend that you do not speak or use your voice at all.
“This is to allow healing time for the surface of your vocal cord or cords around the site of the surgery.”
They state whispering, laughing or humming should also be avoided.
Pat Haden, Vince Evans, Sean Salisbury, Rodney Peete, Matt Cassel, Todd Marinovich, Rob Johnson, Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart, Mark Sanchez, Caleb Williams. Just a few of the great USC quarterbacks who went on to have NFL careers, yet never won a Super Bowl. Congratulations to Sam Darnold, the first USC quarterback to win the Super Bowl. I will always remember Sam’s amazing performance in the 2017 Rose Bowl game against Penn State. Sam was a redshirt freshman that year. He had the heart of a champion then and still does now.
Dave Ring Manhattan Beach
Sam Darnold’s odyssey, from first-round bust to Super Bowl champion, is straight out of a Hollywood movie. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Darnold proved success in football, like life, is not always linear. He has now won more Super Bowls than his 2017 draft class colleagues, Baker Mayfield, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson, combined.
SANTA CLARA — Sam Darnold did not really know what to say.
So as the Seattle Seahawks quarterback stood on stage at Levi’s Stadium after becoming a Super Bowl champion, he made a few comments thanking teammates and fans before ultimately boiling it down to this:
“Just a job well done,” he said.
The words were simple. Concise. And captured the essence of a player who traveled a road filled with disappointments and setbacks but always believed in himself.
On Sunday, Darnold was far from spectacular. But the former San Clemente High and USC star played error-free, tossed a touchdown pass and let running back Kenneth Walker III, kicker Jason Myers and a dominating defense do the rest in a 29-13 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX.
It was the Seahawks second Super Bowl title, their first since 2014.
This year’s defense dubbed itself the “Dark Side.” All-Pros do not abound. Individual personalities lean more toward quietly confident rather than brash.
And on Sunday, it lit up the stadium by harassing Patriots quarterback Drake Maye into three turnovers and sacking him six times.
Linebacker Derick Hall forced a third-quarter fumble that turned the momentum. Safety Julian Love ended any real chance of a comeback with a fourth-quarter interception. And, after cornerback Devon Witherspoon hit Maye’s arm on a blitz, linebacker Uchenna Nwosu returned an interception for a touchdown.
Patriots quarterback Drake Maye throws an interception as he is hit by Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon in the fourth quarter of Seattle’s 29-13 win in Super Bowl LX on Sunday.
(Adam Hunger / Associated Press)
“They lived up to the ‘Dark Side’ today,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said as he held the Vince Lombardi Trophy on the winner’s stage. “It’s going to go down in the history books.”
Myers made history by kicking a Super Bowl-record five field goals. Walker rushed for 135 yards and was voted the game’s most valuable player, the first running back to win the award since Terrell Davis in 1998.
But the story of the Seahawks’ season revolved around Darnold.
The third pick in the 2018 draft endured tough times with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers before he spent a season as the backup for the San Francisco 49ers. In 2024, he led the Minnesota Vikings to 14 victories but the team did not re-sign him.
The Seahawks welcomed him with open arms, and he became the first former USC quarterback to start a Super Bowl.
Is this what the Seahawks envisioned when they signed Darnold to a three-year deal with $55 million in guarantees?
Seahawks coach Mike MacDonald holds the Vince Lombardi Trophy on stage in front of Sam Darnold and Kenneth Walker III following a 29-13 win over the New England Patriots on Sunday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
“Yeah, absolutely,” general manager John Schneider said in a celebratory locker room filled with cigar smoke and champagne. “The person, the leader — he’s the ultimate competitor.”
On Sunday, Darnold was not nearly as sharp as he was in a pivotal Week 16 overtime victory over the Rams, and the NFC championship game against the Rams.
But early in the fourth quarter, he connected with tight end AJ Barner for a touchdown that gave the Seahawks a 19-0 lead. He completed 19 of 38 passes for 202 yards. He did not have a pass intercepted. He did not fumble.
“I feel like I could have been a lot better,” he said. “Feel like we could have scored more points, to be quite frank. But again, we got the job done.”
A job well done by Darnold all season, teammates said.
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold throws a pass during the second half against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX on Sunday.
“The story that’s been written, my story, I don’t know if I could have written a better ending to this year. Some really tough times this year, and to be in this place, be able to go through this year with these guys, it’s one of the most fun years I’ve had.”
Jones started for the Rams in Super Bowl LVI as a rookie but rather than extending him after his third year, the team traded him to Tennessee before last season. The Titans later traded him to the Seahawks, who gave him a three-year extension last spring.
“It’s amazing, man,” Jones said of being a two-time champion. “Those California Super Bowls — I like those.”
After Darnold’s touchdown pass, it appeared the Seahawks were on their way to the first shutout in Super Bowl history. But Maye came back and fired a touchdown pass to Mack Hollins, pulling the Patriots to within 12 points.
Patriots fans perhaps envisioned a repeat of Super Bowl LI in 2017, when Tom Brady led the Patriots back from a 28-3 deficit to beat the Atlanta Falcons.
But the Seahawks made sure that was not going to happen.
Love picked off a Maye pass, and Myers kicked his final field goal to increase the lead to 22-7. Late in the fourth quarter, Witherspoon hit Maye, and Nwosu grabbed the ball in the air and returned it 45 yards for a 29-7 lead.
The Seahawks were on their way to finishing the season with their 10th consecutive victory.
Maye, runner-up to Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford for the NFL most valuable player award, completed 27 of 43 passes for 295 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions.
“They had applied some pressure where they got us a few times,” Maye said, “and we’ve got to be better with the football and make better decisions and I’ve got to make better throws when the game goes like that.”
When it was over, Darnold was holding the Vince Lombardi Trophy on stage.
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, left, and running back Kenneth Walker III celebrate on stage after a 29-13 win over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX on Sunday.
(Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
“I was like, ‘This thing’s a lot lighter than I thought it was,’” he said. “But it was great just to be able to hold that trophy and finally enjoy it.”
Darnold will enjoy something else: He will now forever be known as Super Bowl-champion Sam Darnold.
“It’s special, man,” he said. “I’m not going to lie — it’s a dream come true. It really is.
“Just going to continue to lean in to that, and soak it all in.”
Sam Curran took England’s second ever hat-trick in T20 internationals as they beat Sri Lanka by 11 runs (DLS) in Pallekele.
The left-arm seamer dismissed home captain Dasun Shanaka and lower-order batters Maheesh Theekshana and Matheesha Pathirana as Sri Lanka were dismissed for 133.
The hosts had already lost five wickets for 22 runs after spinners Adil Rashid and Liam Dawson tore through their line-up, taking 3-19 and 2-31 respectively.
Curran had been expensive earlier in the innings, conceding 36 runs from his first two overs, but returned in force before Jamie Overton wrapped up the innings, which had been shortened to 17 overs after rain earlier in the day.
Having won the preceding ODI series 2-1, England were looking to take their form into the shortest format as they build up to the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka next month.
They looked comfortable in their reply, with Phil Salt hitting 46 from 35 balls at the top of the order.
Jos Buttler was bowled by Eshan Malinga in the third over after hitting the seamer for four successive fours, and the same bowler removed Jacob Bethell for nine.
Tom Banton hit back-to-back sixes off Wanindu Hasaranga, but was caught superbly in the covers by Charith Asalanka off Parithana, while Salt chipped Shanaka to long-on with the finish in sight.
The rain returned two balls later with England needing nine from 12 deliveries and the umpires swiftly drew a conclusion to proceedings.
England go 1-0 up in the three-match series, with the next game at the same ground on Sunday.
Wainwright’s family were in the stands when he won his first cap in Wales’ historic 13-12 win against South Africa in Bloemfontein – the only time the men’s national team has won a game against the Springboks on their soil.
The prop from Prestatyn, then with Saracens after earning a move from Rygbi Gogledd Cymru (RGC), helped win a scrum penalty that set up field position for Josh Adams’ late try that was converted by Gareth Anscombe.
Wainwright was able to celebrate with his father, who was instrumental on his rise to Test level.
“He was a huge influence,” said the prop. “We were best friends and he did everything with me.
“He was one of the biggest support networks for me and when I got the call-up I thought about him a lot, it was quite emotional.
“We’d speak about everything and he’d watch every game. When I was at the Scarlets he would tell me what to pick up on after every game.
“He was unbelievable for me and that’s why getting this call up was a bit emotional for me. He would have been proud of me – 1,000%.”
A former rugby league player and a construction worker, Shaun ensured that Sam was able to give RGC his full attention.
“I told him I wanted to follow his route and have the rugby alongside it, but he would never let me do it,” said Wainwright, whose exploits earned a chance with Saracens in 2019.
“He said ‘I do this, not you – you just focus on the rugby’. I was part-time at RGC and got a wage, but my dad just told me to eat and sleep rugby.”
