Rebecca Wilcox, daughter of the late Dame Esther Rantzen, made a heartbreaking admission on BBC's The One Show, telling host Alex Jones that she and her family are "dreadful" in the wake of her mother's death.
Appearing on the October 20 episode alongside actors Robson Green and Kyle MacLachlan, the TV presenter discussed her mother's legacy. Dame Esther, the former That's Life host and Childline founder, died in September at the age of 86 following a stage four lung cancer diagnosis.
A Final Message and a Fight for Choice
Esther had been an outspoken campaigner for assisted dying and supported the recent assisted dying bill, which was ultimately rejected by MPs. Her family have since shared a goodbye message she wrote, in which she said she felt "deprived of any choice over my own death" by what she called the "current messy criminal law."
Her note also thanked those who had campaigned in favour of the bill, penning: "Goodbye and thank you to everyone who has taken an interest in this crucial life and death issue."
'It's Awful, I'm Trying to Put a Brave Face on It'
When asked by Alex Jones how she and her family were coping, Rebecca made a candid confession. She admitted: "Oh well we're dreadful, but when you've had great love you have great grief and that's what we knew would happen."
She continued: "We had three-and-a-half years after her diagnosis. She would not let go, she lived every minute of that life and she's a star and now she's up there with the other stars and my dad. It's awful, I'm trying to put a brave face on it."
A 'Naughty' Grandmother Remembered
Despite the emotional start, Rebecca also smiled as she reflected on her mother behind the scenes, revealing Esther offered her grandchildren chocolate for breakfast. "She was the naughtiest grandmother and you wouldn't be allowed to call her that," Rebecca said.
"She didn't take umbrage with the word 'granny' she just didn't think it was as cool as 'pops' like the men seemed to get the better names so she wanted my son, her first grand child to name her so he named her 'Etta' because that's how he said Esther, so that's what she was."
She added: "She would give them chocolates at breakfast she would take them wherever they wanted to go. The word 'no' did not exist. I would come into my house having come in from work and she would be on the floor playing lions, she'd be in the tent - we had this weird tube - she'd be stuck in it for hours. She was amazing."
The One Show airs weeknights from 7pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
