Dame Esther Rantzen is living from scan to scan while she fights cancer, her daughter Rebecca Wilcox has said(Image: PA)

Esther Rantzen's daughter shares heartbreak as mum 'doesn't want to talk about dying'

Dame Esther Rantzen's daughter, Rebecca Wilcox, has shared how "amazingly proud" she is of her mum as she opened up on the TV star's health battle in a new interview

by · DevonLive

Dame Esther Rantzen's daughter, Rebecca Wilcox, has opened up about her mother's health struggles, revealing that the TV icon "doesn't want to talk about dying". Speaking on the Namaste Motherf*****s podcast with Cally Beaton on September 12th, Rebecca expressed her immense pride in her mum.

In 2023, Dame Esther, who founded ChildLine, announced she had terminal lung cancer and had joined Dignitas, a Swiss assisted dying organisation. However, Rebecca shed light on her mum's approach to her health battle, explaining that she "just wants to live what she is living well".

Rebecca stated: "I'm just, without sounding sentimental and boastful, I am always amazingly proud of her and the fact that she doesn't want to talk about dying."

She added: "She doesn't want to talk about the cancer. She just wants to live what she is living well. What time any of us have left, we don't want to talk about.

Rebecca Wilcox and Esther Rantzen(Image: (Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images))

"One of the dinner party banned conversations...it used to be you're not allowed to talk about Brexit or health. And so now she's having to have this conversation day in, day out, probably with the knowledge that it's not going to help her at all."

The former That's Life! presenter has been campaigning for the Government to hold a full debate and free vote on assisted dying in the UK, as current laws could lead to a 14-year prison sentence for those facilitating it.

Dame Esther's situation is further complicated by the fact that if her three children, Rebecca, Miriam and Joshua, were to accompany her to the Dignitas clinic in Zurich, they could potentially face prosecution as accessories.

This month, Dame Esther was given renewed hope of living to see a Commons debate on assisted dying after Sir Keir Starmer reiterated his promise to allocate time for it.

When questioned about whether he could assure the respected broadcaster that the debate would happen before Christmas this year, the Prime Minister stopped short of providing a specific timeline.

He stated: "I gave her my word that we would make time for this with a Private Members' Bill and I repeat that commitment. I made it to her personally and I meant it, and we will."

Esther Rantzen is battling cancer(Image: (Image: Allan Olley/Mirrorpix/Getty Images))

Dame Esther described the latest remarks as "wonderful news" and expressed her deep gratitude, sharing that the PM "hoped I would be alive" to witness a "proper debate".

She commented: "At the time I thought that was an impossible dream, but thanks to a new targeted drug which seems to have stopped the spread of my lung cancer, and thanks to Sir Keir's commitment and the support of so many people around me, it may come true."

"Thank you, Sir Keir, on behalf of all the people who, like me, would like to be able to look forward to a pain-free death with dignity, surrounded by the people we love."