Entertainment
George Alagiah shares insight into cancer journey: ‘People always ask me how I cope and it’s the hardest question’-Mel Evans-Entertainment – Metro
The BBC News journalist teamed up with Rankin on a poignant shoot.
George Alagiah has reflected on his bowel cancer diagnosis, eight years on (Picture: Macmillan Cancer Support/Rankin)
BBC newsreader George Alagiah has reflected on the challenges of his cancer diagnosis, eight years after he was first diagnosed with bowel cancer.
The beloved journalist has teamed up with celebrities including Sheridan Smith to come together with ordinary people to share their experiences with the disease.
In the intimate shoot with acclaimed British photographer Rankin for Macmillan Cancer Support, the stars posed for a series of portraits, with 66-year-old Alagiah sharing an insight into his diagnosis.
Speaking on his 2014 diagnosis, and about his experience of living with cancer, which subsequently spread to his lymph nodes and lungs, Alagiah said: ‘People always ask me how I cope and it’s the hardest question.
‘The challenge at first was getting my cancer diagnosis straight in my head; despite having so much going for me, a successful career and a loving family, here I was just being told I was dying.
‘I wish I had known sooner just how much support Macmillan could have offered me throughout this whole experience, but I thought I had to be at the end of my life to ask for it.’
Alagiah was photographed alongside personal trainer and mother of three Mary Huckle (Picture: Macmillan Cancer Support/Rankin)
The BBC News journalist returned to the broadcaster earlier this year, after stepping back from his duties in 2021 amid treatment.
He previously said the time since his diagnosis allowed him to reflect on having to be vulnerable and when recently asked about what wisdom he would give, while on the Desperately Seeking Wisdom podcast, he said: ‘I think it would be to constantly ask the question, “What is it we can do together?”
Sheridan Smith posed with Manchester-based nurse Suad Ibrahim (Picture: Macmillan Cancer Support/Rankin)
Sheridan has lost loved ones to cancer (Picture: Macmillan Cancer Support/Rankin)
‘I spent a lot of my time in Africa, and in South Africa they have a word: Ubuntu. It’s the idea that I’m only human if I recognise the humanity in you. There’s this collective notion of life which I think we have lost.’
Alagiah was photographed alongside personal trainer and mother of three Mary Huckle, who was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer the same year as the journalist.
Speaking about her own diagnosis, Huckle described the difficulty of breaking the news to her loved ones: ‘The ripple effects are always far reaching and just as traumatic for them. Many lonely, sleepless nights ensued.’
Adding: ‘I just had to accept the situation and crack on with the process.’
Kadiff Kirwan met with former primary school teacher, Chloe Dixon (Picture: Macmillan Cancer Support/Rankin)
Lauren Mahon is pictured with TikTok star Shell (Picture: Macmillan Cancer Support/Rankin)
The photography series captured by Rankin, who has previously photographed the Queen, Kate Moss and David Bowie, marks the return of the Macmillan Coffee Morning – the charity’s nationwide fundraising event to support people living with cancer.
Stage and screen actress Smith has supported Macmillan for a number of years after losing loved ones to cancer and was photographed alongside Manchester-based nurse Suad Ibrahim whose father died from the illness.
The 41-year-old who rose to fame starring in popular sitcoms The Royle Family, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps and Gavin and Stacey, said: ‘Connecting with others who have been touched by cancer can really help you to feel less alone.
‘Macmillan’s Coffee Morning is the perfect space to do that.’
This is Going to Hurt and Fleabag actor Kadiff Kirwan, who lost his mother to cancer, also sat for the shoot alongside former primary school teacher Chloe Dixon.
Award-winning podcast host and cancer campaigner Lauren Mahon was photographed with Shell Rowe, a 23-year-old filmmaker and TikTok star who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2019.
Mahon, 37, who hosted You, Me and the Big C with Dame Deborah James and Rachael Bland who both later died from cancer, spoke more specifically about the financial pressures a cancer diagnosis can bring.
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She said: ‘When I got diagnosed, one thing that completely floored me was money. For some reason I thought – which I think is quite normal – that I would be looked after, that there’d be Government funding, or support I could apply for.
‘I didn’t realise it would be statutory sick pay. I’d moved out my parents’ house before I received my diagnosis and I couldn’t even afford to pay my rent in London – my friends had to fundraise just to keep me in my home.’
To organise your own Macmillan Coffee Morning head here.
Metro.co.uk joins forces with CoppaFeel!
This year Metro.co.uk are the proud sponsors of breast cancer charity CoppaFeel!’s music festival Festifeel, specially curated by their patron, Fearne Cotton.
Taking place on Sunday 18 September at London’s Omeara, the line up includes headliners McFly, comedian Rosie Jones and Radio 1 DJ Adele Roberts. For a chance to win a pair of tickets to the sold out event click here.
You can find out more about CoppaFeel! here, but in the meantime, here’s three simple steps from the charity to get you started on your chest-checking journey:
Look
Look at your boobs, pecs or chest.
Look at the area from your armpit, across and beneath your boobs, pecs or chest, and up to your collarbone.
Be aware of any changes in size, outline or shape and changes in skin such as puckering or dimpling.
Feel
Feel each of your boobs, pecs or chest.
Feel the area from your armpit, across and beneath your boobs, pecs or chest, and up to your collarbone.
Be aware of any changes in skin such as puckering or dimpling, or any lumps, bumps or skin thickening which are different from the opposite side.
Notice your nipples
Look at each of your nipples.
Be aware of any nipple discharge that’s not milky, any bleeding from the nipple, any rash or crusting on or around your nipple area that doesn’t heal easily and any change in the position of your nipple.
Macmillan cancer support
If you or someone you care about has been diagnosed with cancer, Macmillan can offer support and information.
You can contact their helpline on 0808 808 00 00 (7 days a week from 8am to 8pm), use their webchat service, or visit their site for more information.
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