George Alagiah, 66, reveals his bowel cancer has spread further and he will be taking a break from presenting BBC News At Six

• George Alagiah, 66, is taking a break from presenting the BBC’s News At Six
• Scans have showed the newsreader’s bowel cancer has spread further 
• He said he looks forward to being back in the studio as soon as he can  

George Alagiah is taking a break from presenting the BBC’s News At Six after saying scans showed his cancer has spread further.

The 66-year-old newsreader was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer in 2014 and announced he was stepping back from his broadcasting work in October last year, but then returned to BBC News At Six in April.

Now the presenter says it’s ‘back to some tough stuff’ – but he is looking forward to returning to the studio as soon as he can. 

George Alagiah is taking a break from presenting the BBC’s News At Six after scans showed his cancer has spread further

He had returned in April after announcing he was stepping back from broadcasting last October

Mr Alagiah said: ‘A recent scan showed that my cancer has spread further so it’s back to some tough stuff.

‘I’m missing my colleagues. Working in the newsroom has been such an important part of keeping energised and motivated.

‘I look forward to being back in that studio as soon as I can.’

The news was confirmed by his agent Mary Greenham.

Mr Alagiah as he returned to BBC’s News At Six in April after stepping back last year 

Sri Lanka-born Alagiah underwent 17 rounds of chemotherapy to treat his advanced bowel cancer in 2014.

He returned to presenting in 2015 after making progress against the disease and said he was a ‘richer person’ for it.

His cancer then returned in December 2017 and he underwent further treatment before again returning to work.

In 2020, he tested positive for coronavirus after deciding to stop appearing in the studio during the outbreak following advice from doctors and colleagues.

Last month the newsreader revealed he had a ‘tumour site’ at the base of his back and has spent 18 months in ‘extreme pain’.

In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, he said: ‘It is near my L5 lowest vertebra. I’ve spent a lot of the last 18 months in extreme pain. 

‘There have been times when even lying down makes it worse.’

Mr Alagiah took a role reading the Six O’Clock News in 2007 after spending a decade as the corporation’s foreign correspondent

Mr Alagiah told of how he has undergone more than 100 rounds of chemotherapy since his first cancer diagnosis eight years ago and has been lucky to get four hours of sleep a night.

He receives low doses for three quarters of the year and higher doses the rest of the time.

Asked if the cancer had spread to his spine, he previously said: ‘I don’t know if it is into my spine. It is very technical so you have to be careful. 

‘What I have is a tumour that is resting very close to the spine and, as far as doctors can make out, has eroded a bit of a vertebra. 

‘More importantly, it is sitting very close to the nerve and the aorta. Both of which are significant. That’s the one we are watching.’

Mr Alagiah and his wife Frances pictured at their home in north London. The pair have been married for more than 30 years after first meeting at university

Mr Alagiah has been married to wife Frances, a former executive with the Fairtrade Foundation charity, for more than 30 years after the couple, who have two sons in their thirties, met at university. 

He previously said: ‘One of the things I want to do is hold hands with my wife until the end, and am I going to be able to do that? It haunts me. Not every day.’

‘I’m not too scared for myself, but I’m here on the third floor of our house. 

‘And I am looking out of the window at Frances setting out the tablecloth on our garden table, and it occurs to me, is she going to have to do that for herself one day, and eat on her own?’

In 1982, Mr Alagiah began his first journalistic role for international magazine South, before joining the BBC in 1989.

He spent a decade as the corporation’s foreign correspondent, winning a Bafta for his coverage of the Kosovo conflict in 2000. 

Mr Alagiah then took a role reading the Six O’Clock News in 2007.

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