Lauren Laverne given ‘all clear’ following cancer diagnosis

Broadcaster Lauren Laverne has said she has been given the “all clear” after treatment for cancer, adding the experience had taught her “so much about what really matters” in life.

The BBC presenter, 46, said on Instagram on Sunday that she would be back to work on The One Show on Tuesday “after taking some time off to get better”.

She said she now feels “more than ever that the small things in life – the connections we make and care we take with each other – are the big things really”.

Laverne, who also hosts BBC Radio 6 Music’s breakfast show Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, revealed her diagnosis in August, saying at the time that her cancer had been caught early and that she “expected to make a full recovery”.

Her post on Sunday went on to thank the “brilliant medical teams who took such great care of me” and “the thousands of people who sent me such beautiful and encouraging messages”.

“Most of all [thank you] to my family: my two astounding kids and especially my husband Graeme, who was absolutely extraordinary throughout,” she said.

“It’s been a difficult time but one that has taught me so much about what really matters.

“I can’t say I suddenly regretted never having hiked the Inca Trail, more that I now see more beauty in ordinary things than I could have imagined.”

She said in August her cancer had been discovered “unexpectedly during a screening test” and urged anyone who was “avoiding a test or putting off an appointment” to get checked.

Laverne began filling in for Kirsty Young on Desert Island Discs in 2018, later taking on the role permanently.

The role has seen her interview the likes of actor Cillian Murphy, director Steven Spielberg, and singer John Legend.