The stars put their pants on the line to help tackle prostate cancer

Ex-England footballers Les Ferdinand and Jamie Redknapp, television presenters Adrian Chiles and Ben Shephard, rugby player Jason Leonard and snooker star Jimmy White have put their individual stamps on six different styles of underpants, which are being sold in Marks & Spencer stores in aid of the charity.

This is the first time that M&S, which has already raised more than £1m for The Prostate Cancer Charity over the past five years, has created a full range of celebrity-designed products.

The six stars left their day jobs behind and turned their hands to creating the underpants, which went on sale yesterday.

Chiles, who has designed a rather stylish pair of black boxer shorts with a black and white striped waistband, was keen to support the campaign after a friend was recently diagnosed with the disease.

He said: “With my design, I have effectively worn my heart – which clearly belongs to West Bromwich Albion FC – on my M&S underpants. Everyone knows I am a massive ‘Baggies’ fan, and I naturally looked to the terraces for my inspiration. What struck me was that the 37,000 men diagnosed with prostate cancer every year would not even fit into our stadium, the Hawthorns.”

Les Ferdinand said he was more than happy to get involved as all the proceeds will go to The Prostate Cancer Charity.

“I had a lot of fun designing these pants,” he said. “I am particularly keen to add my voice to this. African Caribbean men are three times more likely to develop prostate cancer, yet there has been a taboo around this in the past.”

Pin badges, trolley tokens and bottle-openers will also be available in store throughout the month, for a suggested donation, and M&S staff will also be fund-raising.

The pants cost £15 for a pack of two designs, with all proceeds donated to The Prostate Cancer Charity.

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