lung cancer

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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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’.”

BBC Breakfast presenters paid tribute to Quentin Willson after the former Top Gear host and Strictly Come Dancing star died at the age of 68.

BBC Breakfast hosts Roger Johnson and Emma Vardy honoured former Top Gear presenter and Strictly Come Dancing contestant Quentin Willson this morning (Sunday, 9 November).

Willson, who co-presented the BBC motoring show from 1991 to 2001 before the era of Jeremy Clarkson and James May, passed away on Saturday aged 68.

His relatives announced his death in a statement, following his fight against lung cancer.

They called him a “national treasure” and “true consumer champion”, stating: “Quentin brought the joy of motoring, from combustion to electric, into our living rooms.”

The statement added: “The void he has left can never be filled. His knowledge was not just learned but lived; a library of experience now beyond our reach,” reports the Express.

Besides serving as Top Gear’s used car specialist, and working as an campaigner and electric vehicle supporter, Willson appeared on Strictly in 2004.

He created history on the programme when his Cha Cha Cha with partner Hazel Newberry received the lowest score ever awarded by judges on the show, at just eight points.

He subsequently remarked he was “very proud” of it, acknowledging his poor dancing ability and saying: “I ‘m very proud to have the lowest recorded score on Strictly Come Dancing. Builders ran up to me to shake my hand because I failed so badly. I tried, but I was the dancing equivalent of a JCB.”

BBC Breakfast presenters paid tribute to Willson this morning, with Roger stating: “Jeremy Clarkson and James May have lead tributes to the former Top Gear presenter Quentin Willson, who has died from lung cancer at the age of 68. His family said that he brought the joy of motoring into people’s living rooms.”

Reporter Graham Satchell said: “Quentin Willson’s presenting style on Top Gear was unforgettable. Direct, forthright, with a wry sense of humour.

“After Top Gear, Willson began campaigning to reduce the amount of tax that motorists paid on fuel, and then to try and make electric cars more affordable.

“He holds the ignominious record of having the lowest ever score on Strictly, 8 out of 40, his performance described as a Robin Reliant trying to make love to a Ferrari.

“Willson loved it, it was important, he said, for people in the public eye to make fun of themselves.

“The car was his first and last love, he named his daughters Mercedes and Mini.”

Satchell continued: “Tonight Quentin Willson’s family said the void he left can never be filled. His knowledge was not just learned but lived, a library of experience, now beyond our reach.”

The tributes follow heartfelt words from James May and Jeremy Clarkson, who wrote: ” I’m far away so I’ve only just heard that Quentin Willson has died. We had some laughs over the years. Properly funny man.”

May commented on X: “Quentin Wilson gave me proper advice and encouragement during my earliest attempts at TV, back in the late 90s. I’ve never forgotten it. Great bloke.”

BBC Breakfast airs from 6am on BBC One and iPlayer.