BBC News presenter Maryam Moshiri has announced she has been diagnosed with incurable blood cancer. The 49-year-old TV star has been undergoing treatment for the last two years while continuing to report on current news, including the coronation of King Charles, Eurovision, the Iran war, and The World Today.
Rare cancer diagnosis confirmed
She confirmed to The Times that she has Polycythaemia vera (PV), a rare type of cancer that affects the bone marrow and makes the blood thicker than normal. Maryam, who joined the BBC in 2003, said: "It is going to be there till the day I die. A big part of this disease is having to get on with life."
Discussing how she didn't want to let her diagnosis affect her work, she said: "I love what I do. I love being where the story is. I don’t want to allow blood cancer to stop me from doing my work."
Treatment and exhaustion
She also revealed that she has continued to maintain a full work schedule while having blood removed to reduce the concentration of red blood cells. One particular moment of exhaustion she experienced was spending two weeks in Rome in April 2025 while covering the death of Pope Francis.
Maryam said: "I was working 14-hour days, constantly on air, constantly having to think on my feet, and holding it together, despite the fact that I had this chronic tiredness and fatigue. When you’re doing live news, you have this rush of adrenaline, and you just have to get on with it."
Family impact and new campaign
The mother-of-three continued: "During my worst times when I was going through really quite gruelling treatment, I wasn’t there for my kids. I’d be lying on the sofa, and my son would say, ‘mummy, can you come play football with me in the garden?’ And you just can’t. You’re too tired."
She said: "I come home sometimes, and after work, I just lie there. I can’t move. I’m so tired. And so I had to let the children know [about the cancer]. They asked me, ‘Are you going to die, mummy?’ Of course, that was the first thing they said."
Maryam is now backing a new campaign called Here for This, by Blood Cancer UK, which aims to highlight how the disease impacts everyday life and family moments.
