How farmer survived major heart surgery to win top TV talent show

A WELSH farmer who survived a “shock” diagnosis that required triple bypass heart surgery and went on to win Britain’s Got Talent has urged fellow farmers who might be tempted to “hold back” on visiting the doctor to take care of their health.

- RACHAEL DAVIES

Hugh Thomas, 75, joined the Hawkstone Farmers’ Choir, put together by former Top Gear star and Clarkson’s Farm presenter Jeremy Clarkson, after a shock heart disease diagnosis left him in hospital and needing major heart surgery.

The 34-strong choir’s performance in the Britain's Got Talent live final on May 30 received glowing praise from the judges, including Simon Cowell who described it as “absolutely stunning”, “heartfelt” and “joyous”.

They will receive a £250,000 prize and the opportunity to perform at the annual Royal Variety Performance.

Hugh, who has run a sunflower farm in Pembrokeshire with his wife Rachel since 1981, joined the choir in April 2025 after recovering from a heart disease diagnosis in February 2022, and hopes to use the platform to encourage other farmers to take care of their health.

According to a North Yorkshire study by watchdog Healthwatch, 40% of surveyed farmers said that it is hard to arrange doctor's appointments around their farming work, with a fifth saying they don’t like asking for help with their health. Hugh admitted that he was of the same opinion.

“When it comes to health, farmers generally hold back and say: ‘Oh, it’s nothing, it'll go in a day or so’ They tend to leave it, I admit I have,” he said.

“Most of the farmers that I know would put off going to the doctor unless their arm was hanging off,” agreed Hugh's wife Rachel.

“‘Oh, it'll be fine in the morning, put a plaster on it’! There's a lot of that in this industry.

‘People are not keen to go to the doctors, and they leave it, and sometimes they leave it until it's too late.’

In February 2022, Hugh, then aged 71, felt generally well but started to experience shortness of breath when he was exerting himself.

“ I had a bit of an issue with Covid, it did me quite badly, and we all thought that it must be down to that,” he explained.