Dame Esther Rantzen considers ending own life at Dignitas after cancer diagnosis

Dame Esther Rantzen announced her lung cancer diagnosis earlier this year(Picture: ViacomCBS)

Dame Esther Rantzen has said she is considering the option of assisted dying if her lung cancer treatment does not improve her condition.

The 83-year-old Childline founder and broadcaster, who revealed in May that the disease had progressed to stage four, has joined the Swiss organisation Dignitas.

In an interview with BBC’s The Today Podcast, she said her next scan in a few weeks will tell her ‘whether the miracle drug is performing its miracle or whether it’s given up.’

The TV legend added: ‘I have joined Dignitas. I have in my brain thought, well, if the next scan says nothing’s working I might buzz off to Zurich – but it puts my family and friends in a difficult position because they would want to go with me.

‘And that means that the police might prosecute them. So we’ve got to do something. At the moment, it’s not really working, is it?’

Speaking to Nick Robinson and Amol Rajan, Dame Esther also called for a free vote on assisted dying as she feels it is ‘important that the law catches up with what the country wants.’

Dame Esther said she had joined Swiss assisted-dying organisation Dignitas (Picture: PA)

Assisted suicide is banned in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.

The Health and Social Care Committee is due to publish its report into assisted dying and assisted suicide in England and Wales, having launched an inquiry in December 2022 to examine different perspectives in the debate.

Asked what she would do if she was made prime minister for the week, Dame Esther said: ‘I would get them to do a free vote on assisted dying. I think it’s important that the law catches up with what the country wants.’

Following Dame Esther’s plea, Downing Street said decisions on assisted dying were a matter for Parliament, rather than the Government.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘The position of the Government has not changed. It is a matter for Parliament to decide. It’s an issue of conscience for individual parliamentarians.

She said she did not want her family to see her in pain (Picture: Indigo/Getty Images)

‘MPs, I believe, last had the opportunity to vote in 2015 when they rejected making any change in the law. It will be for Parliament to decide on any future debate.’

She said that her family has said it is her decision to make, adding: ‘I explained to them that actually I don’t want their last memories of me to be painful because if you watch someone you love having a bad death, that memory obliterates all the happy times and I don’t want that to happen.

‘I don’t want to be that sort of victim in their lives.’

On Tuesday, Dame Esther’s daughter Rebecca Wilson appeared on Good Morning Britain where she spoke to hosts Richard Madeley and Charlotte Hawkins about her Dignitas plans.

Asked whether her mum was making the right decision, she replied: ‘Absolutely. We’re allowed to make decisions about everything in our own lives. We’re allowed to make this decision and I know this is constantly said about our pets, so I have a very elderly horse who will have to be put down if something happens to him and I would be considered inhumane if I didn’t do that.

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

‘And yet, if mum is experiencing such dreadful symptoms and there is no hope, then why shouldn’t she be able to make that decision.’

On how her family was feeling, Rebecca replied: ‘It’s horrific and she always promised us she would live forever and she’s not usually one to break her promises, so we’re a little bit upset about that.

‘But the joy of having this Christmas – it feels like a Christmas miracle and I hate saying that because it’s so saccharin and that is not what my family’s about, but when we got the diagnosis in January, we never thought we would have this Christmas again.’

Dame Esther with her late husband Wilcox (Picture: Getty Images)

She added: ‘It’s a joy and a delight and I personally would want to ground her plane if she was going to fly to Zurich, but I know it’s her decision. I just don’t ever want her to go.’

At the end of the interview, Richard asked Rebecca if she would go with her mum when the time comes and Rebecca said: ‘Legally I can’t say that because I’d get in trouble, but I hear Switzerland is very nice.’

Previous to this update, Dame Esther said she was doing her best to ‘hold the disease back’ and is also taking the time to treasure every day.

‘This is the Christmas I thought I wouldn’t see because last January I was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer,’ she said.

Dame Esther is best known for presenting BBC programme That’s Life! (Picture: Getty)

‘Since then I’ve been taking one of the new targeted drugs. I know it cannot cure the cancer, but it can hold it back and slow it down a bit.

‘So, I’m looking forward to spending this Christmas with my family again, an extra precious present I didn’t expect,’ she added.

This year Dame Esther will be spending the festive season with her her three children Miriam, Rebecca and Joshua from her marriage to the late Desmond Wilcox, and her five beloved grandchildren Benji, 10, Xander and Teddy, 8 Florence and Romilly, 5.

More: Trending

Dame Esther became a household name at the BBC and is perhaps best known for presenting That’s Life! – a programme featuring a mix of investigations, topical issues and entertainment – from 1973 to 1994.

In addition to her success as a journalist and broadcaster, she set up children’s charity Childline in 1986, as well as The Silver Line in 2013, a charity that supports elderly people in the UK who are battling loneliness.

If you or someone you care about has been diagnosed with cancer, Macmillan can offer support and information.

You can contact their helpline on 0808 808 00 00 (7 days a week from 8am to 8pm), use their webchat service, or visit their site for more information.

Got a story?

If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.

MORE : Dame Esther Rantzen shares how long she has left to live after lung cancer diagnosis

MORE : Dame Esther Rantzen, 82, reveals she has lung cancer which ‘has spread’ – but is remaining ‘optimistic’

MORE : Dame Esther Rantzen, 82, forced to miss The One Show due to lung cancer