Walker returns to the show on 1 March

"At times I wondered if I wanted to go back to a high-profile, stressful job," said the 59-year old drive time host, who goes back to his show next week.

Chemotherapy for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma left Walker with constipation which caused his intestines to burst.

"I was crawling on the floor in such agony, I cried to my wife Tiggy, 'Please let me die,'" he said.

Walker told the Radio Times magazine he feared the worst when Noel Edmonds took over his show initially.

Uncertain

"When Noel took over with a fanfare of publicity, I assumed, 'That's the end so far as I'm concerned.' There was always a bit of a radio career launch going on with him."

Stuart Maconie has been presenting the show since October after Edmonds' two-month stint.

"Stuart's done a fantastic job, but I always knew he was looking after things until I came back," said Walker.

A surgeon at Salisbury hospital told the presenter he had "lost" him nearly three times during an operation, which changed Walker's outlook.

"I'm convinced there's an afterlife and that my parents and brother are looking over me - which is a great help. If there is evolution of the soul, you can only learn through adversity," he said.

Walker will return to the Drive Time Show on Monday 1 March.