In a landmark moment for British television, Trisha Goddard has made history as the first Celebrity Big Brother contestant to receive cancer treatment whilst participating in the show.
The 67-year-old broadcaster, best known for her long-running talk show and mental health advocacy, entered the Celebrity Big Brother house this week alongside a line-up of famous faces including EastEnders icon Patsy Palmer, ’90s singer Chesney Hawkes, and American entertainer JoJo Siwa. But unlike her fellow housemates, Goddard is juggling more than just nominations and late-night challenges — she is continuing treatment for stage 4 metastatic breast cancer while in the house.
Diagnosed initially in 2008, Trisha went into remission after receiving treatment. However, in 2022 she publicly revealed that the cancer had returned and spread, making it incurable. Despite this sobering reality, the TV star is determined to use her platform to challenge perceptions of what it means to live with cancer.
Speaking before entering the house, she said: “I want to show people how you can live successfully with cancer and not be so scared of dying that you become scared of living. That’s why I’m doing this.”
Although approached to take part in Celebrity Big Brother “every single year,” Trisha had always declined – until now. This year, she said, felt like the right time to say yes, not as a final hurrah, but as a bold statement: that a life with cancer can still be lived in full.
Her appearance on the show has been meticulously coordinated with her medical team. “My oncologist is my biggest cheerleader and is working with the Big Brother team,” she explained. “I’ve got a special therapist who’s happy to work with the medic on the show. My palliative care team – and when I say that word everybody screams and runs away, but it’s symptom treatment – is working with the team here too.”
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Goddard revealed she had undergone an infusion on the Monday she entered the house and will be flying straight back for the next as soon as her time on the show concludes. She has brought a carefully prepared bag of medication into the house, with all elements of her treatment plan adapted to fit the programme’s production schedule.
While she is open about the gravity of her illness, Trisha is keen to keep things light-hearted in the house. She laughed that she’s already told her husband the other housemates might treat her with “pity” – something she’s eager to avoid. “I’m in the house to get my message across, whether I come out in week one or at the end. I don’t expect people to know who I am. I never do.”
Goddard was originally diagnosed after a routine mammogram in 2008, and it was in an emotional interview with Hello! magazine last year that she shared the cancer’s return. “It’s not going to go away. And with that knowledge comes grief, and fear,” she admitted. “But I must keep enjoying what I have always enjoyed.”
Her participation in Celebrity Big Brother isn’t just a personal milestone — it marks a cultural one too. In an era when illness is often hidden from view, Trisha Goddard is choosing to live hers loudly, courageously, and in front of millions. She’s redefining strength, not in the absence of vulnerability, but through her unflinching honesty and unshakeable determination to live life on her own terms.
