Nathan Henry is back like you’ve never seen before!

That Grape Juice: Where did the motivation to do the show come from?

Nathan Henry: The motivation came from the fact that I’ve always done TV stuff with my mum, my family, my brothers, ex-partners—but I’ve never really involved my dad. After his diagnosis, I remember about a year ago, we’d just come back from the cinema, and he randomly said to me, “Are you embarrassed of me because you don’t do anything on TV with me?”

Then in December, the opportunity came up—MTV or Paramount wanted to do a show with me, just me. They asked what concept or ideas I had, and as soon as that came up, I thought, right, this is the perfect time to do this.
At first, I wasn’t sure if we were going to talk about my dad’s cancer. Originally, I wanted the show to focus on a Black dad and a Black son and the relationship between them, because when you think about it, most shows that explore father-son relationships are centered around white families. You rarely see something that resonates with people like me. And I wanted to explore that relationship—especially with me being queer—and what it’s like to have a Caribbean dad.

My dad and I have a great relationship, and I thought, we need to show that. But then I went to MTV with that idea and told them, and they asked if my dad would be open to talking about his cancer. I thought, you know what? This is going to help so many people. Why not cover all bases—the relationship between me and my dad, our heritage, our roots, and cancer—so there’s something everyone can take from it. It can reach a wider audience.
The idea was greenlit in February, and from there, it was just go, go, go.

That Grape Juice: How did you first process the news that your dad had stage 4 cancer, and how have your emotions evolved since then?

Nathan Henry: Obviously, it shocked me—but in a different way. When you sit and think about it hypothetically, you imagine you’re going to be overwhelmed, cry, be hysterical, like, unable to process it. But in that moment, I thought, I’m not going to cry at the end of the phone. I could hear my dad’s voice breaking. He needed support.
So I asked, “What have you heard back from the biopsy?” And he said, “I haven’t heard anything yet.” I said, “So you don’t even know the stage or how far along it is—you just know it’s cancer.” I was like, that’s not the be-all and end-all. Medicine is different now compared to before. This is not the end. Don’t give up.

In that moment, I was very logical. My brothers were upset, and I felt like I had to be the voice of reason—because if we were all falling apart, it wouldn’t help anyone. But because I was that person for so long, I didn’t really allow myself to process what was happening.

Then, through doing this show—talking about cancer every day, being with my dad, seeing him in hospital—I started to process it. It hasn’t been easy. It’s been bloody hard. But I knew if we were going to do this, I couldn’t shy away from it. I had to be honest. Otherwise, it would never work.

That Grape Juice: You’ve called this documentary a love letter to your dad. Why was it important for you to capture and share this chapter of your lives so publicly?

Nathan Henry: One of the main reasons is because when people think someone on TV has a sick family member, the public assumes, “Well, you’ve got money—you can cure it. You’re fine. You’re not like us.” But that’s not true.
I’m at the hospital every month with my dad, picking up tablets, taking him to appointments. He’s not chauffeured. He’s not in a private hospital or room. He waited three months after diagnosis—got misdiagnosed—then diagnosed with something else. This is our real life.

I wanted people to see that—because you don’t know unless you’re living it. That’s the motivation behind the whole thing: to be realistic. I wanted people going through similar things to feel seen and heard. To create conversations about cancer, because it’s not an easy thing to talk about.

There’s still stigma around it. People hear “cancer” and freeze up. But the reality is, one in two people are going to get cancer. If there are two people in a room, one of them will either get it or know someone who has it.
I wanted to break that stigma. If we don’t talk about it, when people do get diagnosed, their first thought will be, “I’m going to die.” But if we normalize it, their reaction might instead be, “Okay, I’ve got it. Let’s get it treated.” That’s the change I’m hoping to inspire. That’s the foundation I want to help lay.

That Grape Juice: In the series, there’s a powerful moment where you see your dad cry for the first time. Was emotional vulnerability something you two shared growing up, or has that changed with his diagnosis?

Nathan Henry: Honestly, no. Growing up, I cried because I was a kid, so yeah, my dad’s seen me cry. But we never had emotional chats. When I was coming to terms with my sexuality, my dad was the last person I told. I was around 21 or 23. He kind of figured it out and made me tell him, but even then, we didn’t really talk about it.
I’d never seen him cry—ever. So to see him cry while we were filming, I thought, f*ck, this is really real. We’re going to have some hard conversations in this show. And I wondered—am I mentally prepared for this? Am I ready to let my dad go through this? Is this the right decision?

I genuinely considered stopping filming. I asked my dad, “Do you want to stop?” And he said, “No. It’s important we have these conversations, and that people see them.” And I thought, if this is coming from him—someone who’s never done TV—and I’ve been doing this for ten years, then he sees something in this. So, we need to keep going.
That was the turning point. No matter how hard the conversation, we had to get through it. We had to talk about it. And we had to let them film it. And that’s exactly what we did.

That Grape Juice: Looking back, how else would you say your life has changed since your ‘Geordie Shore’ days?

Nathan Henry: I think everyone’s seen me grow up on TV. To this day, it still shocks me when strangers on the street go, “Hi Nathan, you alright?” And my friends will ask, “Do they know you?” and I’ll say, “No, they’ve probably just seen me on TV.”

It’s completely changed my life. And doing this new show—people who’ve only seen me on Geordie Shore or haven’t seen the other stuff I’ve done—this is like showing the evolution of me. From being an immature kid on TV, drunk, naked, arguing, to being a man, a family man, taking care of his dad through a diagnosis. Being raw, honest.

It’s a full-circle moment. And I wanted people to see that.

That Grape Juice: What do you hope people take away from Nathan and Dad? Why is it important that people watch this?

Nathan Henry: The main thing I want people to know is: you are not alone in this process. There’s help out there. Whether you seek it or not, there are services through the NHS, charities, and self-funded support groups. If you’re the one going through a diagnosis, there are alternative medicines, lifestyle changes—there is life after diagnosis.

That’s what I want people to take from this. I want it to be something people learn from. Cancer touches everyone. Even if it’s not you, it’s someone you know.

Watching this might make you a better friend to someone going through it. You might learn how to approach those difficult conversations you didn’t feel ready for. And if people see the bravery in me and my dad, I hope that inspires them to be brave too, to have those hard conversations.

Because life is too f*cking short, it really is. And when you don’t know how much time you’ve got left, it’s important to live life to the fullest—and seize every moment you can.

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Check out the trailer below:

‘Geordie Stories: Nathan & Dad’ is available to watch via MTV Shores’ YouTube Channel.

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