There was not a dry eye in the studio as Dame Esther Rantzen’s daughter delivered a devastating update on her mum’s health live on Good Morning Britain.
The beloved broadcaster, who revealed in 2023 that her lung cancer was stage four, has long been admired for her resilience and outspoken support of assisted dying legislation. But this week, her daughter Rebecca Wilcox confirmed the heartbreaking truth: the treatments are no longer working.
Speaking candidly to presenter Kate Garraway, Rebecca explained how the family is coping. “As a family, we’re great. Because we live in denial about everything. I mean, who has cancer? No one has cancer,” she said, before admitting more seriously: “It’s a really weird time. As anybody who knows – or has got someone they adore – who has got a terminal diagnosis. You just live in a state of anxiety between the scans.”
Then came the moment that silenced the room.
“Mum is incredible. I don’t know how she’s doing it. She is surviving not only the cancer, but the treatments as well. She is now obviously palliative. The treatments have stopped working. And she is still going.”
The word “palliative” hung heavily in the air.
Rebecca also revealed her mother’s frustration that the assisted dying bill could run out of time in Parliament. When co-host Ranvir Singh asked whether Dame Esther would consider going abroad if faced with what she described as an “awful crossroads”, Rebecca did not hesitate.
“Absolutely. We are in this privileged position – if that’s the word – whereby she can afford to have the death that she wants and deserves. She will pay £15,000 to go to Dignitas. She will go before she has to. She will go months before she would die here. And she will have to go alone.”
The reference was to Dignitas, the Swiss clinic where assisted dying is legal for foreign nationals.
In recent years, Dame Esther has stepped back from public life to focus on her health battle. Last Christmas, she even celebrated the festive season early with loved ones, fearing she might not see the real day. She had also previously revealed she was no longer receiving active treatment, explaining: “Right now, I am not receiving any treatment, which was my doctor’s decision. The side effects outweigh the benefits. So, the cancers are progressing. But according to my most recent scan, very slowly.”
Now, as her family braces for what lies ahead, one thing remains clear: even in the face of a terminal diagnosis, Dame Esther’s determination — and her campaign for choice at the end of life — has never wavered.
