Dame Esther Rantzen has opened up about her heartbreaking final wish, revealing the ‘extremely limited’ time she has left in a cancer health update.

The Childline founder, 84, who is battling terminal lung cancer, expressed her deep desire to be reunited with her late husband, Desmond Wilcox, whom she lost to a heart attack in 2000 at the age of 69.

In a new interview, she spoke deeply about her lasting bond with Desmond, musing on the possibility of an afterlife where they could once again be together.

She told The Times: ‘If there is a heaven, it would be a very happy place.

‘It’s a lovely idea to meet Desmond again and all those I have loved and lost — my parents and grandparents, my close friends and family.’

Esther’s relationship with Desmond began as an affair in 1968, when he was her head of department at the BBC.

Dame Esther Rantzen has opened up about her heartbreaking final wish, revealing the 'extremely limited' time she has left in a cancer health update (pictured in 2020)
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Dame Esther Rantzen has opened up about her heartbreaking final wish, revealing the ‘extremely limited’ time she has left in a cancer health update (pictured in 2020)

The Childline founder, 84, who is battling terminal lung cancer, expressed her deep desire to be reunited with her late husband, Desmond Wilcox, whom she lost to a heart attack in 2000 at the age of 69 (pictured together in 1999)
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The Childline founder, 84, who is battling terminal lung cancer, expressed her deep desire to be reunited with her late husband, Desmond Wilcox, whom she lost to a heart attack in 2000 at the age of 69 (pictured together in 1999)

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They married in 1977 and spent 30 years together until his death, and had three children together.

Back in 2013, the presenter spoke of her own sadness at being a widow, saying she would give up a decade of her life to spend just ten more minutes by her late husband’s side.

She said: ‘Desmond’s last words to me were, ”I adore you”. I was sitting on his deathbed.

‘I will take those words with me to the grave. I said to my son last night, ”If God gave me the choice between ten more years of life and ten more minutes with Desi, I would pick those ten minutes.”’

Esther’s heart wrenching final wish comes after her daughter Rebecca Wilcox said the cancer drug her mother was put on last year is no longer working.

The star was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in 2023, and at one point was told she had just weeks to live.

Last year the star raved about an ‘amazing’ new drug which had delayed the spread of her cancer, telling The Sunday Times that it had allowed her to plan ahead.

In March, Rebecca gave an update on her mother during an interview on 5 News, revealing that the medication was no longer working.

Esther's relationship with Desmond began as an affair in 1968, when he was her head of department at the BBC
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Esther’s relationship with Desmond began as an affair in 1968, when he was her head of department at the BBC

Esther's heart wrenching final wish comes after her daughter Rebecca Wilcox said the cancer drug her mother was put on last year is no longer working (pictured together in 2015)
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Esther’s heart wrenching final wish comes after her daughter Rebecca Wilcox said the cancer drug her mother was put on last year is no longer working (pictured together in 2015)

Host Julian Druker asked if the medication she was on ‘was an improvement’ only for an emotional Rebecca to admit: ‘I really wish that was true but I don’t think that’s the case anymore.’

Both Dame Esther and her daughter are advocates for making assisted dying legal in the UK.

Speaking in response to the news that there are delays to implementing an assisted dying bill, Rebecca explained: ‘I just wish that people understood that all the assisted dying bill is, is choice for people that want it.’

‘All it is, is giving you peace of mind and that peace of mind, I cannot tell you how powerful that would be right now for my mum.’

‘I’m a witness to the trauma of uncertainty, to the trauma of stress around what is going to happen.’

‘The fact that she doesn’t know how her death is going to happen, how the pain is going to progress, the exhaustion, the fatigue, what symptoms are going to come in.’

‘She is a person who has fought her whole life for other people, and she has no control now.’

‘Why can’t we give people like my mum with a terminal diagnosis, with no other choice, some choice as to when and how and where they die?’