HEARTBREAKING UPDATE — Dame Esther Rantzen Admits She’s Celebrating Christmas Early “So There’s More Chance I’ll Be Alive” Amid Ongoing Cancer Battle

Dame Esther Rantzen has issued a heartbreaking update on her cancer battle as she admitted she is celebrating Christmas early so there’s ‘more chance I’ll be alive’ (Seen in 2020)

Dame Esther Rantzen has shared an emotional new update about her health, revealing she plans to celebrate Christmas early with her family this year — because she wants to increase the chances she will still be here to enjoy it.

The journalist, 85, was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in 2023, and at one point was told she had just weeks to live

The beloved broadcaster, 85, was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in 2023 and was told at one point that she had only weeks left to live. Last year, she described a remarkable new drug that slowed the spread of her illness and allowed her to hope for more time.

The Childline founder expressed her deep desire to be reunited with her late husband, Desmond Wilcox, whom she lost to a heart attack in 2000 at the age of 69 (pictured together in 1999)

But in a deeply moving update published by The Times on Friday, Dame Esther disclosed that she has recently been diagnosed with a second, entirely different form of cancer, which required both chemotherapy and radiotherapy in 2025.

She revealed she is now no longer receiving any treatment at all, after doctors concluded that the side effects outweighed any potential benefits.

“A further diagnosis, comparatively recently, has revealed that I am also being attacked by a completely different kind of cancer,” she explained. “It needed treatment with chemotherapy and being zapped with radiotherapy.”

She added:
“Right now I am not receiving any treatment at all… the side-effects outweigh the benefits. The cancers are progressing but, according to my most recent scan, very slowly.”

The former That’s Life! presenter went on to share that she is arranging a special early Christmas celebration with her children and five grandchildren.

“This year, I’m planning an ‘official’ Christmas slightly ahead of the real one — so there’s more chance that I am actually alive to enjoy it with them,” she said.

Dame Esther noted that in late 2023, she did not expect to see another Christmas at all, making this one a treasured gift.

Her comments come after an emotional appearance on Good Morning Britain, where host Kate Garraway struggled to hold back tears while speaking with Dame Esther about the UK’s assisted dying bill.

Calling in for the segment, Dame Esther revealed her own end-of-life plans and urged the House of Lords not to block legislation that could provide more autonomy to terminally ill people.

She said she wanted to represent those across England and Wales who live with severe, life-limiting conditions, revealing she has made arrangements to travel alone to Dignitas in Switzerland should her suffering become unbearable.

“I’m not afraid of death,” she said. “But I am afraid of dying badly. I’m making arrangements because it’s the only way I can have an assisted death.”

She added softly:
“I just wish I was allowed to say goodbye to my family — and for them to see I had a peaceful death.”

She also addressed concerns from disabled individuals who fear the bill might be misused:
“It cannot apply to anyone unless they are terminally ill with six months or less to live.”

Earlier this year, Dame Esther spoke openly about her “extremely limited” time left and shared her most heartfelt wish: to be reunited with her late husband, filmmaker Desmond Wilcox, who died of a heart attack in 2000 at the age of 69.

In the interview, she reflected on their decades-long bond and the possibility of an afterlife where she might see him again.

“If there is a heaven, it would be a very happy place,” she said. “It’s a lovely idea to meet Desmond again and all those I have loved and lost.”

Esther and Desmond began their relationship in 1968 while working at the BBC. After marrying in 1977, they spent 30 years together and had three children before Desmond’s passing.

Back in 2013, she heartbreakingly said she would give up ten years of her life just to have ten more minutes with him:
“Desmond’s last words to me were, ‘I adore you.’ I will take those words with me to the grave.”