Andrew Lloyd Webber: 'I can't make love again'

Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber has revealed that treatment for his battle against prostate cancer has left him impotent.

The 63-year-old underwent surgery to remove his prostate gland after the disease was discovered in its early stages in 2009. The Mirror reports that the composer spoke openly about his battle during an interview for Piers Morgan's Life Stories series.

"I'm a ladies' man who can never make love. I'm resigned to that," Lloyd Webber quipped.

He admitted that he and his wife Madeline Gurdon have opted out of using alternative stimulants, telling Morgan that they sounded "too gruesome to contemplate".

"I did look into the alternative possibilities… I did go to the sex education [clinic] for people who have lost their prostates and [the therapist] was very sweet," he said. "She said, 'Ooh, but you can try Viagra, you can try all that and see if it works'.

"She then produced this contraption, a sort of pump which, allegedly, was in some Austin Powers movie! I just said, 'I can't use this thing!'. For a [ladies' man], you just have to live with it. You just have to laugh."

However, Lloyd Webber admitted that he considered himself to be the "luckiest man" having survived his battle.

"I have my music, I have my children. I am the luckiest man," he said. "If I'd left it, the chances are I'd be on chemotherapy now and it would be a nightmare. I regard it as great luck that I'm out the other side."

A source told the paper: "It is an incredible interview, Andrew's most candid ever. He gets pretty emotional but refuses to shy away from Piers' questions. Revealing his sex drive was massively reduced, he admits prostate removal has left him unable to make love. Andrew has been told it is unlikely he will ever have sex again.

"He actually has a bit of a giggle when he chats about the possible solutions, and laughs off ideas he would resort to Viagra, penis pumps and any other ­stimulants. He discusses the whole thing with great humour. But also, in a moment of seriousness, he urges men to get ­themselves regularly checked."

Piers Morgan's Life Stories with Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber airs on ITV1 at 9pm on Saturday, April 9.

> Andrew Lloyd Webber recalls cancer battle