Bee Gees star Robin Gibb has spoken about his "spectacular" cancer recovery - and declared: "I feel fantastic!"

The star, who has looked increasingly gaunt in recent months due to the illness and a bowel condition, said he had now begun to put on weight.

There had been reports the star, who sings with his brothers on dozens of Bees Gees hits including Tragedy, Stayin' Alive, Massachusetts and Night Fever, had been close to death after being diagnosed with colon cancer.

But he told BBC Radio 2 host Steve Wright he feels better than he has for a decade.

"The prognosis is that it's almost gone and I feel fantastic and really from now on it's just what they could describe as a 'mopping-up' operation," he said. "I am very active and my sense of well-being is good."

He suggested that reports about his health had been conjecture. "I mean the fact is, I've never spoken to anybody about my condition or the condition that I was in and a lot of them go over the top to the point where they're telling me things that I didn't even know about myself."

Gibb has had repeated health problems due to a twisted bowel, a condition that led to the death of his twin brother Maurice nine years ago, at the age of 53. But after several periods of ill health, he was also found to be suffering colon cancer.

The 62-year-old said he had begun to put on weight, adding: "I love food, I love eating."

Gibb said his slender appearance had been a constant in his life. "I've always been thin. If you go back to when we first started I've always been skinny. It's hard for me to put on weight."

Gibb is soon to release a classical concept album about the sinking of the Titanic, to mark the centenary of the disaster. And he is aiming to perform at the symphonic work's premiere in London on April 10.