Dame Esther Rantzen’s daughter has issued a heartbreaking update, revealing that the beloved broadcaster is no longer responding to treatment for her terminal illness.
Rebecca Wilcox, the middle child of the iconic 84-year-old TV presenter and Childline founder, shared the emotional news during a candid interview with 5 News. The veteran broadcaster, who was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in 2023 after discovering a lump under her arm, had been placed on a promising new medication to slow the disease’s progression — but tragically, it has now stopped working.
“I really wish that was true but I don’t think that’s the case anymore,” Rebecca admitted, when asked if the drug was still helping her mother’s condition.
Dame Esther and Rebecca have long been public advocates for legalising assisted dying in the UK, a stance that has become all the more personal in light of her recent decline. Rebecca spoke passionately about the need for compassionate end-of-life options for people like her mum.
“I just wish people understood that all the Assisted Dying Bill is… is a choice. A choice for those who want it,” she said. “It’s not about forcing anyone, it’s about giving people like my mum some control, some peace of mind — and that peace of mind is everything right now.”
Rebecca described the harrowing emotional toll the uncertainty has taken on their family.
“I’m a witness to the trauma. The trauma of uncertainty. Of not knowing what her final days will look like — the pain, the exhaustion, the symptoms to come,” she said. “She’s someone who’s spent her whole life fighting for others, and now she has no control at all.”
Dame Esther, who famously hosted That’s Life! for over two decades on the BBC, had previously considered an assisted death at Switzerland’s Dignitas clinic. But as Rebecca revealed, even that option is now out of reach.
“Frankly, Dignitas is out of the window for us as well,” she said. “You have to be relatively well to travel and go through with it. If she had gone, she would’ve had to leave months ago — long before her natural passing would occur here.”
In a separate interview with The Today Podcast on BBC Sounds, Dame Esther said that if the UK were to legalise assisted dying, it would allow her to face death “with confidence” and “without fear.”
“The only way to ensure a pain-free death right now is to go to Dignitas without your family — because if they go with you, they could be investigated by police for murder or coercion,” she said bluntly.
Now, as the cancer progresses and options narrow, the family continues to advocate for change — even as they face the most painful chapter of their lives.
