Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
BBC George: My cancer has spread and I have to take a break
News presenter to have more chemo
BBC newsreader George Alagiah is to take another break from TV to deal with “a further spread of cancer”, his agent has said.
The TV journalist, 65, was first diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2014 and he underwent further treatment when it returned in 2017.
Having taken a break, Alagiah had been back on air as the anchor of the BBC News At Six.
He received his latest diagnosis – that it has spread to his lungs and lymph nodes – in April last year, but chose to keep working until now.
A statement from his agent said he “is to take a break from studio duties to deal with a further spread of cancer”.
She added: “He was first diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer in April 2014.”
In a letter to colleagues in the newsroom Alagiah said his medical team had decided to hit the new tumour “hard and fast”. He now faces a combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy over the next few months. He told his agent that working has “kept me sane over the last few years” and added: “I’m determined to come back.”
Sri Lanka-born Alagiah underwent a gruelling 17 rounds of chemotherapy to treat his advanced bowel cancer in 2014.
He returned to presenting in 2015 after making progress against the disease and said he was a “richer person” for it.
His cancer returned in December 2017 and the presenter underwent further treatment before once again returning to work.
Last year he tested positive for coronavirus after deciding to stop appearing in the studio during the pandemic following the advice from doctors and his colleagues.
In an interview last year the dad of two, who has been married to wife Frances for 37 years, revealed he lets his doctors do the worrying for him.
He said: “My doctors have never used the word ‘chronic’ or ‘cure’ about my cancer.
“They’ve never used the word ‘terminal’ either. I’ve always said to my oncologist, ‘Tell me when I need to sort my affairs out’, and he’s not told me that.
“But what he did tell me is that the cancer is now in a third organ. It is in my lungs.”
He added: “I said to my doctor, ‘You’re going to have to do the worrying for me.’
“I don’t want to fill my mind with worry. I just know that he’s a clever guy, doing everything he can.” Alagiah wrote about his situation in his new book Letters From Lockdown. He writes: “The pandemic presented special challenges for me and thousands of others who are cancer patients. But there was one way I felt I had an advantage.
“To have cancer is to live with uncertainty. Every scan brings with it a huge question mark over my life.
“So I’ve learnt to live in the moment, to be content with today.
“It has helped me to get through these most unpredictable of times.”
Alagiah said that the pandemic has shown us that we must all be more caring towards to each other.
He said: “This pandemic has taught us that we need each other.
“That’s what being human is – caring for one another. Not just here at home but across the world.”
I’ve learnt to live in the moment.. to be content with today. It has helped me GEORGE ALAGIAH IN LETTERS FROM LOCKDOWN