Broadcaster, journalist and campaigner Dame Esther Rantzen has died at the age of 86.
The TV personality was best known for fronting the BBC consumer affairs series That’s Life! for more than 20 years, as well as presenting her own self-titled daytime talk show.
She was also the founder of the youth counselling service Childline and, more recently, a similar service offered to elderly people in the UK known as The Silver Line.
Following her diagnosis with lung cancer in 2023, Dame Esther became a vocal advocate for assisted dying, and just last month, shared her disappointment after MPs voted against a bill that would have made it legal.
On Wednesday, Dame Esther’s family announced the broadcaster’s death, remembering her as the “most wonderful mother” and a “cherished grandmother”.
“Her legacy of compassion and understanding will live on in her charities Childline and the Silver Line, and through those of us who were lucky enough to love and be loved by her,” they said.
“We are grateful she is finally at rest with her beloved husband, Desmond Wilcox, but we will miss her immeasurably. She was our sunshine. We will always remember her endless capacity for joy, her ability to comfort every heartache, her beautiful way with words and her expert guidance in all things.
“She was the most wonderful mother to us three children and a cherished grandmother to her five treasured grandchildren. We have been so lucky for so long, no matter how much time we had with Mum it could be never be enough, but we are so grateful for our lives together.”
They added: “We hope the humour, ingenuity and audacity she brought to her work may continue to inspire you as it will do us.”
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In her later years, Dame Esther made a number of appearances on popular reality shows, including the second season of Strictly Come Dancing in 2004, when she was paired with Anton Du Beke, and I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here! in 2008.
She also took part in a celebrity special of First Dates in 2016.
Dame Esther was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2015 thanks to her services to young and older people through her work with both Childline and The Silver Line.
The presenter was married to her husband, TV producer Desmond Wilcox, from 1977 until his death in 2000.
Following her diagnosis with terminal cancer in 2023, she penned a piece in The Times which read: “Am I ready to go? Yes and no.
“The will is written, ramshackle furniture has been given away and old bits of technology have been dumped or recycled, but the barn is still full of boxes of files and scripts and photographs I should have sorted, filed or shredded long ago.
“But each box I open is so crammed with memories that once I start, I’m still reading it three hours later when I should have consigned it to a skip and moved on.”
She shared that she was taking comfort in “nature”, “happy memories” of “wonderful friends, colleagues and family whose company has meant so much to me”, observing: “The cliché is live each day as if it’s your last and treasure every moment. Certainly, I don’t try to hurry the clock out of impatience. I’m never bored and I know how lucky I am to have lasted this long.”
“If you have someone you care about, tell them,” she concluded, adding: “And if at any time you are told you are dying, as my medical friends say, just remember that we all are.”
