Dame

DAME Esther Rantzen has shared a heartbreaking health update after stopping treatment for lung cancer.

The veteran TV star, 85, was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in January 2023 and had been undergoing experimental medication, though is no longer receiving any treatment.

She had previously joined a Swiss assisted dying clinic, Dignitas, in late 2023, stating her desire for a peaceful death if her treatment failed.

She has now revealed in a heartbreaking health update that she is celebrating Christmas early this year in case she doesn’t make the actual day.

Speaking to The Times, she said: “This year I am planning an ‘official’ Christmas with my children and five grandchildren, slightly ahead of the real Christmas so that there will be more chance that I am actually alive to enjoy it with them.

“Although I live alone, Rebecca (her daughter) will come and decorate the house beautifully, as she has done every year with all my old baubles and bits of tinsel.”

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Terminally ill TV legend Dame Esther Rantzen shares sad health update

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Dame Esther Rantzen too ill to attend Westminster debate on assisted dying

In the candid interview, Dame Esther said: “When I was diagnosed with lung cancer in January 2023, I did not expect to last until the next Christmas, so the fact that I am still here and looking forward to this one is a wonderful surprise.”

She then revealed how she is no longer receiving treatment, and her cancers are progressing.

“Right now I am not receiving any treatment, which was my doctor’s decision, as the side-effects outweigh the benefits,” she explained.

“So the cancers are progressing but, according to my most recent scan, very slowly.

“Incidentally, I have also discovered a mental health issue I never expected, scanxiety,” she added.

Dame Esther went on to explain: “Since I have no idea what is actually happening inside my own body, but every scan, every three or four months, carries with it the possibility of bad news, as the date approaches my anxiety levels rise — and we cancer patients have christened it scanxiety.”

She also revealed her “great hope” for the coming year, and what she would really want to happen.

“My great hope for 2026, which I do not expect to survive long enough to witness, is the final passing of the Assisted Dying Bill through all its stages in parliament,” she said.

Dame Esther is a big supporter of the Assisted Dying Bill, which narrowly passed through Parliament back in June.

At the time of the Bill passing through the House of Commons in June 2025, Dame Esther said the terminally ill are “truly voiceless” and face an “agonising death” – adding: “This is a crucial debate for the truly voiceless.”

She went on to say: “They are the terminally ill adults for whom life has become unbearable and who need assistance, not to shorten their lives but to shorten an agonising death – and their loved ones who under the current law will be accused of committing a crime if they try to assist or even stay alongside to say goodbye.”

Dame Esther also spoke about how she is in the midst of planning her memorial service, in her most recent interview this weekend.

She said how it is “quite fun to put together” as she is ruthless about asking favours from friends.

“Fortunately I have friends who are wonderful readers, Tom Conti, for instance, and Imelda Staunton and Judi Dench.

“It’s going to be quite an event!

“Pity I can’t be there myself,” she added.

Dame Esther previously questioned whether her stage four lung cancer might have been caused by exposure to asbestos at the BBC’s Lime Grove Studios in West London, where she filmed That’s Life! for 21 years.

Speaking to The Times in 2023, Dame Esther said: “Some time in the late-Eighties or early-Nineties, workmen wearing white spacesuits arrived to take down walls and ceilings along the corridors where I wrote our scripts to remove the asbestos.

“This did not surprise any of us since my team had called our route to the canteen ‘asbestos alley’.”

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Hannah Hidalgo scored 22 points and hit the go-ahead jumper with 1.9 seconds left, KK Bransford scored nine of her 11 points in the fourth quarter and No. 24 Notre Dame beat 11th-ranked USC 61-59 on Friday.

Hildalgo finished with seven rebounds and five steals and Bransford had eight rebounds, four steals and three blocks. Vanessa de Jesus added 13 points, five assists and three steals for Notre Dame (4-1). The Fighting Irish, who went into the game averaging 18.0 steals per game (No. 5 nationally), had 16 steals.

Hidalgo, facing defensive pressure near midcourt, darted toward the basket and pulled up for a contested mid-range jumper that capped the scoring. Cassandre Prosper stole Kennedy Smith‘s inbounds pass to seal the game.

Kara Dunn hit four three-pointers and led USC (3-2) with 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Jazzy Davidson added 14 points but committed eight turnovers. Londynn Jones, who went into the game second on the team in scoring (12.8 per game), was scoreless on 0-for-3 shooting.

Notre Dame scored the final six third-quarter points and opened the fourth with a 6-1 spurt that culminated when Cassandre Prosper made a layup with 4:25 to play, making it 52-all. Davidson hit a three, and Dunn followed with a jumper that put the Trojans up by two with 1:38 remaining before Bransford answered with a jumper that tied it at 59-59 a minute later.

Hidalgo scored eight points in a 13-2 first-quarter run that gave Notre Dame its biggest lead of the game at 15-10.

Smith made a layup that gave the Trojans a two-point lead with 2:27 remaining in the second quarter, and the lead was 33-31 at halftime. Hidalgo opened the third quarter with a layup, but USC scored 18 of the next 25 to gather an 11-point lead when Dunn — who scored nine points in the spurt — made a layup with 2:12 left until the fourth.

Up next for USC: The Trojans host Tennessee Tech on Tuesday.

It’s more than two hours before Sherman Oaks Notre Dame’s football team plays in a Southern Section playoff game, and there’s one big teenager lying on his back at the 50-yard line with headphones on. Samson Fatu, 6 feet 5 and 305 pounds, is using the all-weather turf as his “Sleep Number bed.”

“Here I Am,” a song by J Boog, is playing on his headphones. This is the way Fatu focuses before a game.

He’s a starting offensive tackle for Notre Dame, which hosts Chino Hills in a Division 3 playoff game on Friday. His father, Rikishi, is in the WWE Hall of Fame. Three brothers are pro wrestlers and don’t be surprised if Samson one day becomes the latest Samoan family member to start throwing people down. He’s that big and strong and anyone named Samson has star power.

He’s finally healthy after getting injured last season. Get your photos of the big kid with lots of hair. One day you might be watching him on TV in football or wrestling.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].

For its Southern Section Division 3 football playoff opener on Friday night against Laguna Beach, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame brought in a “ringer” assistant coach this week to get its running backs a little tougher.

Former UCLA coach DeShaun Foster dropped by to offer lessons, particularly to his sophomore stepson, Noel Washington.

“He helped a lot,” Washington said. “Having him here means a lot. He’s been making us practice a lot harder.”

And what was the impact? Washington had touchdown runs of 35, two and 32 yards to help Notre Dame (6-5) come away with a 44-28 victory and advance to a home game next week against Chino Hills. He finished with 83 yards in 11 carries.

Safety Tahj Skinner of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame is happy after getting his sixth interception of the season.

(Craig Weston)

Junior quarterback Jack Hurst of Laguna Beach and West Virginia-bound senior quarterback Wyatt Brown of Notre Dame kept making plays all night. Hurst completed 32 of 51 passes for 417 yards and four touchdowns. Brown completed 16 of 31 passes for 232 yards and one touchdown. He ran for 61 yards and one touchdown.

The most important completion for Brown came with 7:38 left on third and 17 with Notre Dame clinging to a 34-28 lead. He found sophomore Emmanuel Pullins for a 19-yard completion. Then Pullins made a 31-yard catch. It set up a 21-yard field goal by Nico Marliani for a 37-28 lead with 2:22 left.

“Huge,” Notre Dame coach Evan Yabu said of the third-down reception.

“I just saw him one on one with no safety coverage,” Brown said.

Said Pullins: “I’m ready for those situations. Before the game, I promised myself to go for the ball.”

It became a wild game in the second half because Laguna Beach (9-2) refused to go down without a fight. After Andre Gamboa picked up a fumble on a high Laguna Beach snap to score a touchdown to start the third quarter, Notre Dame looked ready to pull away with a 28-14 lead.

Hurst responded with a four-yard touchdown pass to Grant Regal. Brown ran 10 yards for a touchdown and a 34-21 Notre Dame lead. Back came Hurst, who fired a 40-yard touchdown pass to Otis Boultinghouse.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Brown said. “They throw a punch, we throw a punch back.”

In defeat, Laguna Beach made clear it will be a team to reckon with next season. Two freshmen, lineman Luke Bogdan and running back Charlie Christian, kept making plays like they will be future stars. The receiving corp made up mostly of juniors kept making catches for Hurst, who finished the season with 45 touchdown passes. The Breakers were hurt by two fumbles and an interception.

“It was a fun game,” Washington said. “They are tough and play hard.”

A mistake by Brown late in the first half helped Laguna Beach get back into the game. Brown had a pass intercepted by Will Kimball with 1:01 left on a scramble with Notre Dame leading 21-7. Hurst drove the team down to score on a four-yard touchdown reception by Kimball with four seconds left to make it 21-14 at halftime.

Two touchdown runs by Washington and a 25-yard touchdown reception by Luc Weaver accounted for the Knights’ first-half scores.

Tahj Skinner of Notre Dame picked up his sixth interception of the season. Notre Dame lost its standout nose tackle, Chris Colon, for next week’s game after being ejected for two 15-yard personal foul penalties.

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame confirmed on Wednesday that 6-foot-7 Tyran Stokes, considered the No. 1 high school basketball player from the class of 2026, has withdrawn from school.

Stokes arrived last season from a Northern California prep school and helped the Knights reach the Southern Section Open Division championship game and the Southern California Regional final.

His departure could produce changes in national TV game plans for Notre Dame. The Knights are still expected to be one of the top teams in Southern California with San Diego State commit Zachary White and top junior NaVorro Bowman.

Stokes leaving Notre Dame makes Sierra Canyon the Mission League preseason favorite.