Australian Idol winner Stan Walker's baby joy four years after cancer battle

Australian Idol winner Stan Walker has shared some exciting baby news, four years after battling a rare and aggressive form of stomach cancer.

Stan, 31, took to Instagram on Christmas Day to announce that he and his wife, Lou are expecting their second child together.

The Melbourne-born New Zealander posted a photo of Lou (née Tyson) and their young son, Te Puuwairua reaching up to place a hand on his mum's growing belly.

In the caption, Stan described the past year as 'the hardest' for the family of three but added that he was 'thankful' and 'blessed' for what they have.

"Ending the year with a new beginning... We can’t wait to meet you our pēpi," he wrote.

Pēpi means 'baby' or 'child' in te reo Māori.

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Stan signed off by wishing his followers "Meri Kirihimete [te reo Māori for 'Merry Christmas'] from the Walkers".

Stan and Lou tied the knot in a low-key, Covid-friendly ceremony in New Zealand in August after eight years of dating.

Their beachside nuptials were showcased in the music video for Stan's song, "Matemateāone".

Stan's cancer battle

Back in October 2019, Stan chatted candidly about his cancer battle on BUILD Series Sydney, revealing that he shares a cancer-causing gene with other family members — including his mum.

The singer, who won Australian Idol in 2009, said he was diagnosed with stomach cancer in late 2017 — eight months after his mum was diagnosed with the same disease.

They both have the CDH1 gene mutation, as do many others in their family, which makes stomach cancer a very likely reality.

When he was told he had 13 cancerous tumours in his body, Stan admitted that the news was "a shock and not a shock".

"It didn’t really hit me hard, I just thought I was going to get it," he said.

Stan 'never cried' over his own diagnosis, but his mother's ill health was devastating.

“When I found out my mum had cancer my whole life was dead,” he confessed.

“Every night I would wait for everybody to go to sleep and I’d go to the toilet and just cry. I remember praying, ‘God, don’t you dare take my mum away from me, I don’t think I’d be able to function, I’d probably stop singing’.”

Stan was told he’d need to have his stomach removed, but delayed the surgery by a month to finish work commitments and ensure he’d be able to foot all the medical bills. In that time, he began binge eating and joked that he would order takeaway food up to four times a day.

“My normal weight was 80-90kg and I got to 102kg, I’d never been to 102g before,” he laughed, “I looked like I was swollen, like I got stung by 1,000 bees, and it wasn’t until I woke up after I got my stomach out and I remember looking down [and going] ‘I’m still fat!’”

Humour aside, Stan’s recovery was far from smooth, and at times the pain was so bad he could hardly breathe.

“I had a lot of complications and a few different operations and procedures,” he explained, adding, “The body is so incredible, it just gets back into action and keeps going.”

Now he needs to be very careful with what he eats, including cutting out most gluten and dairy. and all greasy foods. He also has to be careful not to eat too quickly and requires B12 shots every six weeks.

Despite all this, he remained extremely upbeat and optimistic, and looks back on the experience with laughter.

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