Neighbours legend Ian Smith has opened up about living with an aggressive form of terminal lung cancer.

Neighbours: Ian Smith talks about being ‘freezing’

Neighbours icon Ian Smith who starred on the beloved Australian soap as Harold Bishop opened up about his terminal lung cancer, making a candid admission on mortality.

In December, the 86-year-old revealed he would be stepping down from his role after receiving a heart-breaking diagnosis.

Ian told Australia’s 10 News First programme that he had pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma, a rare form of lung cancer.

“I found out a few months back that I have cancer, that I have a very aggressive non-fixable cancer and they expect me to die,” he said.

In a recent interview, the actor made a moving revelation about how the incurable diagnosis changed his perspective on life.

Read more: Danielle Lloyd breaks down in tears as she shares devastating cancer diagnosis

Ian Smith

Ian Smith starred as Harold Bishop in Neighbours (Image: Amazon )

Ian admitted: “Dying does change how you live, I vainly say I am a better person now, but I think I am more forgiving, more understanding.

“It is a pity that I couldn’t have come to all these realisations [before] I was sick – I could have done somebody some good in the world,” he added to The Guardian.

Following his diagnosis, the actor was told he would be dead by March and started a course of chemotherapy and immunotherapy, a newer treatment that uses your immune system to fight the cancer.

To which he said: “I’ve really put my hand up, I think just to be a guinea pig plus the fact I don’t want to die, I want to stay alive with quality as long as I can – and if they can do that, I’m very happy.”

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Ian Smith and his wife Gail

Ian Smith’s wife Gail died from cancer in 2019 (Image: Getty)

 
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However, in a major update, Ian revealed he was now defying the odds.

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Just moments after going public with the diagnosis, his doctor called with unexpected news and Ian told The Guardian how there was “not a speck of red in sight” in his most recent scan.

He added: “That’s why I’ve got this solid grin on my face, apart from being 86, I feel good. I’m in no pain. I know how strange that sounds.”

Despite his personal tragedies and losing his wife Gail to cancer in 2019, Ian remains grateful for living the “most privileged” life.