'Bruised and battered': Peter Overton recovering after melanoma surgery

Nine News Sydney newsreader Peter Overton said "it looks like I've been glassed and stitched back together" after surgery to remove a melanoma.

Overton was on the operating table on Monday to remove a mole on his right temple under his hairline which had turned cancerous.

The newsreader said he is "vigilant" about checking his skin checked every three months, and during his last check-up his dermatologist noticed something unusual.

"They have to cut a huge section and that's been the most confronting thing," Overton told 2GB's Deb Knight.

"When Jessica (wife Jessica Rowe) cut off all the bandages yesterday when I was allowed to remove all that headwear, it was quite a shock to see the extent of the stitching and the flaps of skin they had to put over."

Overton said he is "bruised and battered and full of stitches" but hopes to be on the mend soon.

"It looks like someone's punched me, it looks like I've been glassed and stitched back together," he told Knight.

The most important message he had for people was to get their skin checked, and not put appointments off especially going into summer.

Melanoma is the third-most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australia.