Esther Rantzen, iconic British TV broadcaster and Childline founder, dies aged 86

Dame Esther Rantzen, the BAFTA-winning broadcaster who fronted That's Life! for over two decades and founded the children's charity Childline, has died at the age of 86, her family has announced.

In a statement released on Tuesday 30 September 2026 and shared by the BBC, her family paid tribute to the "most wonderful mother" and "cherished grandmother", and praised her "ability to comfort every heartache, her beautiful way with words and her expert guidance".

"Our adored mother, Dame Esther Rantzen, died today," they said. "Her legacy of compassion and understanding will live on in her charities Childline and the Silverline, and through those of us who were lucky enough to love and be loved by her. We are grateful she is finally at rest with her beloved husband, Desmond Wilcox, but we will miss her immeasurably. She was our sunshine."

Rantzen had been living with stage-four lung cancer since a diagnosis she made public in 2023.

Born in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, on 22 June 1940, Rantzen read English at Somerville College, Oxford, before joining the BBC Radio in 1963.

From there, Rantzen moved into television as a researcher, made her first on-screen appearances on the consumer programme Braden's Week, and in 1973 was chosen to front its iconic successor, That's Life!

Broadcast on the weekends, That's Life! blended consumer investigations with lighter items, such as its Jobsworth award, which sat alongside campaigns that changed lives.

At its peak, That's Life! drew more than 20 million viewers and ran until 1994.

The programme's most enduring legacy came after a feature on child abuse. When phone lines opened for 48 hours, they were inundated with calls from children, prompting Rantzen to establish Childline as a permanent, confidential helpline in 1986. Childline merged with the NSPCC in 2006.

After That's Life! ended, Rantzen hosted her own BBC Two chat show, Esther, which ran for 600 episodes, and founded Hearts of Gold, which celebrated ordinary people's acts of kindness.

The presenter later competed in the second run of BBC entertainment titan Strictly Come Dancing and then appeared on ITV hit I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! in 2008.

Following the death of her husband, documentary maker Desmond Wilcox, in 2000, Rantzen focused her attention on loneliness among older people, and founded the confidential helpline The Silver Line.

Rantzen's broadcasting and charity work brought an OBE in 1991, followed by a CBE in 2006, then BAFTA's Richard Dimbleby Award, and then a well-earned damehood in the 2015 New Year Honours.

In her final years, the broadcaster became a leading voice in the campaign to legalise assisted dying. In September 2026, Rantzen revealed that she had abandoned plans to end her life at the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland, having become too physically frail to travel.

When she wrote for Radio Times last year, Rantzen praised the power of television, citing Clarkson's Farm as a recent example.

She wrote: "Can television make a difference? It certainly can. Lord Reith talked about entertainment and information being the goals of broadcasting. To this I’d add the enormous pleasure of watching people with a passion for what they do achieving far more than they themselves ever expected. And that gives us all hope."

Rantzen is survived by her three children, Miriam, Rebecca and Joshua, and five grandchildren.