But how soon, how late, I do not know. It does concentrate your mind to be told you've got Stage 4 lung cancer, you do think well wait a minute, I've got less time than maybe I had assumed.

Ukraine saddens me hugely. How can Russia create such a horrible, pointless war? Given that we humans can do that to our own species, maybe the planet would be better off without us. My three children Miriam, Rebecca and Joshua have been the most wonderful support, company, and source of love and laughter and I am deeply grateful to them.” So many older people ringing the Silver Line have told me that it’s been years since they had fun. If I were Prime Minister, I’d bring in a law that everyone must have fun at least once a day. I have loads of fun. My children and grandchildren invariably make me laugh. If they tell us they feel suicidal because they cannot bear being in the wrong body, we take that seriously. In every case, we see our role as giving the child confidence, and assuring them that they are valued, and that we care about their safety. You have three adult children: Miriam, 45, Rebecca, 43, and Joshua, 41. What have you learned about parenting, specifically parenting during the difficult teen years?

In May, Rantzen revealed she has been trying a new cancer treatment, but needs to wait for a scan to see if it’s been working. She tells me she’s ‘still waiting’.

We may not all achieve what Dame Esther has, but here we can soak up her wisdom, laugh with her, learn from her, embrace the passing years and march boldly on. Read more Look Inside Details First and foremost my family. My three children, Miriam, Rebecca and Joshua, have been the most wonderful support, company, and source of love and laughter and I am deeply grateful to them. My friends have been amazing and have created memories which sustain me and give me strength. Miriam, who has ME and lives at home with Rantzen, is clearly extremely proud of her mum. ‘It’s very moving when people helped by Childline or the Silver Line share what her work means to them,’ she says. ‘But my overriding gratitude is for everything that Mum has taught me about cultivating joy, and being creative and undaunted in the face of challenges.’

Esther Rantzen Personal Life Explored 

Be bolder as you grow older, and make sure you float above any challenges that threaten to overwhelm you.

Loneliness a huge issue, not only for older people. Is there something we should be doing, at a grassroots or government level, to combat it? A mother of three and grandmother of five, Rantzen was widowed in 2000 when she lost her husband of 23 years, Desmond Wilcox. In 2016, an endearing appearance on Celebrity First Dates featured a powerful moment when she talked about having ‘lots of people to do something with, but no one to do nothing with’. Yes, I was a complete wimp. Although being controller is such a huge, demanding job it would have meant I spent far less time supporting Childline. And I would have had to give up That’s Life!, which would have meant not exposing Crookham Court, a boarding school owned by a paedophile who employed several paedophile teachers and routinely abused the boys.

Is Esther Rantzen A Smoker?

Mike was about 10, and was absolutely sure s/he was in the wrong body, and was in fact a boy. Mike’s mother was terribly unhappy about not being able to help her child and, when I asked how long Mike had felt this way, she said since Mike was six. She told Alex Jones: "I want to know," adding: "I did say to my oncologist 'When am I going to die?', and he said some time in the next 10 years. At the end of last year, two days after sending off her new book to her publisher, the broadcasting legend found a lump under her arm. A scan showed it was lung cancer that had metastasised to the lymph nodes. In May, she revealed it has progressed to stage 4.