Oh, Victoria, how COULD you have been so uncharitable

FEW high-profile women have done more than BBC presenter Victoria Derbyshire to highlight breast cancer and give other women suffering from the disease comfort and hope.

The married mother-of-two teenage sons recorded a searingly honest account of her treatment, including her mastectomy, in video diaries.

There were heart-rending scenes of her in her hospital bed. She showed us the scars and drains in her side. She talked honestly about the horror of chemotherapy and hair loss.

It was raw television and all the better for that. No soft-focus lighting, no make-up, no scripts — just the glaring reality of a mother dealing with breast cancer.

She set out to demystify a disease that is every woman’s nightmare — and did so brilliantly. Her diaries prompted me to have my first mammogram in ten years. They found two lumps and I had an agonising threeday wait for results from tests which showed they were benign.

I sent the diaries’ website link to two of my friends who had the disease, and it gave them reassurance. Victoria’s bravery in making these recordings was remarkable, and her selfless contribution towards cancer sufferers like my friends cannot be over-stated. Which makes it all the more disappointing that she, of all people, was one of the troupe of celebrity women who reportedly pocketed £10,000 in fees for stripping off behind delicately placed boas on ITV’s The Real Full Monty charity show. To make matters worse, the event raised a paltry £4,000 in comparison for breast cancer.

Yes, Victoria has done more than enough for cancer sufferers already. But she earns up to £250,000 a year from the BBC and certainly doesn’t need an appearance fee.

The trouble is that by accepting hers, she brackets herself with other celebrities like that self-serving hypocrite Paul Hollywood who cynically trousered £117,500 for his Bake Off charity episodes — his co-stars were helping themselves too — while viewers donating were told: ‘100 per cent of the money goes to charity’.

Nothing can dent my admiration for Victoria Derbyshire. But I just wish she hadn’t taken that appearance fee. Because if she can, it poses the question, is there any celebrity we can trust?