Contestants enter the Big Brother house with much to prove.
But none, perhaps, with such noble aims as Trisha Goddard – who has revealed she agreed to go on the series with terminal cancer to prove to patients they should ‘not be scared of living’.
Entering the Celebrity Big Brother house last night, the TV presenter, 67, said she wanted to show people ‘how to live’ after her diagnosis with incurable stage four breast cancer.
The ITV star, who hosted the daytime chat show Trisha from 1998 to 2004, announced in February last year that the cancer she was diagnosed with in 2008 had returned after previously being given the all-clear.
She said: ‘Well, I’ve been asked to do it every single year, and I’ve always thought, ‘Are you kidding me?’.
‘Being on Big Brother would show people how you can live successfully with cancer and not be so scared of dying that you become scared of living. So that’s why I’m doing it.’
Trisha Goddard, 67, has spoken out about why she is going into Celebrity Big Brother, whilst also battling her terminal stage four breast cancer diagnosis (pictured on the CBB launch)
Entering the Big Brother House tonight, the TV presenter has said she made the decision, to show people how to live despite having an incurable illness (pictured in 2024)
Brave Trisha also admitted she doesn’t want her housemates too ‘pity’ her about her diagnosis.
The ITV darling, who hosted the popular daytime chat show Trisha from 1998 to 2004, announced in February last year that the cancer she was diagnosed with in 2008 and eventually beat, had sadly returned.
The mother of two daughters Billie and Madison, who relocated to the US in 2010, devastatingly revealed the cancer ‘is not going away’ and keeping the secret was ‘becoming a burden’.
But, while she was ‘nervous’ about revealing the cancer’s re-emergence, ‘It needed to be done’.
She received the terminal diagnosis 20 months ago.
The mother-of-two has secondary breast cancer – meaning the disease started in the breast and spread to another part of the body – for which there is treatment but no cure.
‘You talk to people and you say you have stage four metastatic cancer. But there’s stage four and there’s stage four’, she said.
‘You can have a few cells and you’re stage four. You can have cancer in your brain, your heart, you know, God forbid, and you’re stage four.
‘So people hear metastatic and they don’t think about the fact that there are people with metastatic breast cancer being treated by my oncologist who have been around for twenty years. So it’s a huge thing.
‘But people hear metastatic and it’s terminal, which isn’t used in the medical world, it’s life limiting.
The TV star revealed back in February last year that her incurable cancer had returned after cells were found in her hip following a fall, and she is undergoing life-prolonging treatment
Brave Trisha also admitted she doesn’t want her housemates too ‘pity’ her about her diagnosis (pictured in 2024)
‘You’re written off and there’s just pity towards you. Anyone going through it, and the Princess of Wales said it perfectly, you’re living with uncertainty, but all you get is pity.
‘I can categorically tell you there are lots of people in lots of industries who are living with cancer who’ve never said a word for that reason.
‘I was doing something the other day and a person revealed to me that they were about to go and get their treatment plan, they were whispering and said, ‘I can’t let anybody else know about this because I might lose my job.’ That’s so wrong.’
The presenter said she expects to get pity from her other housemates but doesn’t want it.
She said: ‘There’s the other thing where people find out and they tell you about their mother who went through it and went through hell, they’ll tell you the horror stories.
‘And you’re telling me this, why? Or I get the pity head nod, or they talk about me and my ‘battle’, how I’m ‘fighting this’.
‘That pi**** me off. It pi**** 90 per cent of us off because we’re not battling or fighting. We’re sitting on the end of a drip or something, you know, ‘be strong’ or ‘don’t give in’.’
Trisha now hosts on Talk and occasionally appears on Good Morning Britain and lives in Connecticut with her fourth husband, Allen, who she married in 2022.
The full line-up of this year’s Celebrity Big Brother has been revealed after Mickey Rourke has signed up for the show (pictured in 2022)
The much-anticipated new run is set to kick off on Monday April 7, with names including Love Island’s Chris Hughes, Olympian Daley Thompson, JoJo Siwa (L) and Patsy Palmer (R) among those rumoured to be heading into the house
Trisha, Donna Preston, Coronation Street’s Jack P. Shepherd, Chesney Hawkes (pictured), TOWIE’s Ella Rae Wise, Michael Fabricant and Angellica Bell are also in the running
Trisha will enter the Celebrity Big Brother on Monday alongside the American actor Mickey Rourke and EastEnders legend, Patsy Palmer, and could be in there for up to three weeks.
Love Island’s Chris Hughes, Olympian Daley Thompson and YouTuber JoJo Siwa are also going in.
Mickey, 72, marks one of the show’s biggest signings in history and with public feuds with Robert De Niro, two marriages and a string of high profile relationships, producers will be hoping the he brings plenty of drama to the house.
Drag Queen Danny Beard is also said to be arriving as a late entry.
Asked how she will time her treatment in case she is in there for a while, Trish said: ‘We’ve timed it. So my oncologist is my biggest cheerleader and is working with the Big Brother team. I’ve got a special therapist who’s happy to work with the medic on the show.
‘And then when it comes to my treatment, I had one infusion on Monday, so I’ve got to jump on a plane and go straight back to have the next one as soon as the show is over. I’ve got a bag full of meds that I normally have which will be with me in the house.
‘So my oncologist has planned my treatment around the production schedule. You see, people can work but they often feel like when it comes to the treatment they have to just be thankful for staying alive and just that. They don’t ask for the things that will help them to be normal.’
Asked if she’d like to win the show, she said: ‘I’ve not even crossed that bridge. People go into the house for different reasons. I’m not an influencer who has to increase my base. I don’t have to prove who I am career wise. The money helps, let’s be honest.
‘But I’ve been asked every year. I’ve been in much more dire situations financially and still turned it down because I didn’t have a reason. I have to have a reason for doing something. 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.’
CELEBRITY BIG BROTHER 2025: MEET THE LINEUP!
MICKEY ROURKE
AGE: 72
FAMOUS FOR: The actor and former pro boxer is one of the show’s biggest ever signings and after public feuds with Robert De Niro, two marriages and a string of high profile relationships, producers will be hoping he brings plenty of drama.
DALEY THOMPSON
AGE: 66
FAMOUS FOR: The double Olympic gold-medallist is considered one of Britain’s greatest athletes, and he would no doubt cause a stir with younger celebrities if he entered the house. He broke the decathlon world record four times.
PATSY PALMER
AGE: 52
FAMOUS FOR: It’s an open secret that Patsy is leaving EastEnders, with the actress enjoying a wild leaving party this month. The Bianca Jackson star posted a snap of her character on Instagram with the caption: ‘Bye bye B, always grateful to see her again.’
DONNA PRESTON
AGE: 38
FAMOUS FOR: While Donna has featured in several TV shows and movies, the comedy star is known for hosting Apocalypse and for the role of a circus Compere in 2018’s Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald. She plays Den in Coronation Street, has featured in Pants On Fire in 2019 and even wrote and co-produced BBC Three’s Comedy Threesomes.
CHESNEY HAWKES
AGE: 53
FAMOUS FOR: The singer topped the charts for five weeks in 1991 with his hit The One And Only, before making a string of acting and TV appearances. His arrival on CBB has been described by a TV source as ‘perfect timing’, as he’s set to release a comeback album in April.
ANGELICA BELL
AGE: 49
FAMOUS FOR: The TV presenter is said to have landed a staggering five-figure deal to appear on Celebrity Big Brother. Fans will be keen to see if the CBBC legend spills all on her untimely exit from The Martin Lewis Show – which left fans baffled back in 2023. Angellica currently co-presents Hits Radio while Fleur East is on maternity leave.
DANNY BEARD
AGE: 32
FAMOUS FOR: The RuPaul’s Drag Race UK winner – whose real name is Daniel Curtis – has signed up as a late entry. Danny previously made headlines after swearing on Big Brother’s Late & Live last March whilst doing an impression of housemate Louis Walsh. The incident saw the guest say the word ‘c***’ before immediately apologising after being informed they weren’t allowed to say that on the show.
CHRIS HUGHES
AGE: 32
FAMOUS FOR: After shooting to fame on Love Island in 2017, Chris went on to become a sports presenter and regularly hosts the horse racing coverage on ITV.
JOJO SIWA
AGE: 21
FAMOUS FOR: The American singer, who shot to stardom on reality show Dance Moms, is expected to draw a big American audience. The hitmaker has made a name for herself in the U.S. pop charts and is known for her outlandish looks and being a vocal member of the LGBTQ+ community.
TRISHA GODDARD
AGE: 67
FAMOUS FOR: The talk show host regularly presented on ITV from 1998 to 2004 and then shifted to Channel 5 from 2004 to 2010. Trisha has been suffering horrible side effects of her chemotherapy – but has bravely battled on.
JACK P. SHEPHERD
AGE: 37
FAMOUS FOR: The actor has played David Platt in Corrie since 2000 and is following in his pal Colson Smith’s footsteps by taking part in the popular reality show. He has won a string of awards for the role including Best Actor at the British Soap Awards.
ELLA RAE WISE
AGE: 24
FAMOUS FOR: Producers have been keen to land the TV personality, who previously dated Pete Wicks and has had an on-off romance with Dan Edgar. Bosses are hoping the TOWIE star might reveal all about some of her other famous exes.
MICHAEL FABRICANT
AGE: 74
FAMOUS FOR: The former Conservative politician is understood to have signed a lucrative six-figure deal to take part after political stars were banned from the broadcaster’s other reality show, I’m A Celeb. He served as MP for Lichfield in Staffordshire from 1992 until his defeat in 2024 as well as vice-chairman of the party under David Cameron. But he is perhaps best known for his blonde mop for which he has been widely ridiculed but repeatedly denies is a wig.
