The 30-year-old star - who lost her father Robert Kardashian to oesophageal cancer just weeks after he was diagnosed eight years ago - spoke at the Angel Ball in New York on Monday (17.10.11), adding the reason the disease was discovered so late was because he "hated" medical professionals.

Addressing the assembled crowd - which raised $3.3 million for Gabrielle's Angel Foundation for Cancer Research - she said: "Not a day goes by when I don't think about him. I wish we knew a little more about the disease. My dad didn't really want to tell anyone he was sick.

"He wouldn't even tell his parents he was sick. He didn't tell them until like a week before he passed away. He was the kind of guy who never wanted to go to the doctor to see what was wrong, because he hated doctors - sorry to all the doctors out there!"

Speaking after the event, Kim revealed her two-year-old nephew Mason - son of her sister Kourtney's - always reminds her of her father.

She said: "When I look at Mason he's so much like my dad. He gives these facial expressions sometimes that look just like my dad.

"My dad would have loved him."