BBC presenter George Alagiah will be taking a break from TV after discovering his cancer has spread further, his agent has said. The globe looks different depending on where youre standing: George Alagiah. It took me that long to feel comfortable in my Britishness; to reach a point where I didnt feel it could be taken away. As a child, I felt cosseted. Im trying very hard not to get emotional.. Since 3 July 2006, he has presented World News Today on BBC World News and BBC Two, which was rebranded GMT on 1 February 2010. "Illness sometimes teaches a person the real worth of life." Mr Turnbull's family revealed that he died 'peacefully' at home in Suffolk after a 'challenging and committed fight' against his cancer which had been diagnosed in November 2017. Furthermore, Alagiah was a member of the BBC crew that won a BAFTA award for its coverage of the Kosovo crisis in 2000. ", "When the oncologist was looking at my scan, he kept gently shaking his head, and every time he did it was like a hammer blow. He has lost count of the number of rounds, more than a hundred not the 17 sometimes mentioned in reports, he points out, making a plea for old-fashioned accuracy in journalism. She even waited until my birthday to arrive. If I had three feet, I'd have them in Asia, Africa and Europe. Up to when I was six, we lived in Sri Lanka, then my father got a job for the government in Ghana. He looks slim and perfect this time. His parents Donald Alagiah, an engineer, and Therese were Sri LankanTamil. He is married to Frances Robathan, with whom he has two sons. I'm hoping it's a long time from now, but I'm very lucky.". I think I am an emotional man. Adam is four years elder than his younger brother Matthew as he has now reached the age of 34, while Matthew is still 30 as of 2022. Russian minister laughed at for Ukraine war claims. Since 3 December 2007, he has been the sole presenter of the Six O'Clock News. Family of US . 195 ratings27 reviews As a five-year-old, George Alagiah emigrated with his family to Ghanathe first African country to attain independence from the British Empire. Image: George with his wife and two sons. Before joining BBC, he served for seven years in print journalism with South Magazine. Born to his Srilankan parents, he is of Asian ethnicity and holds British nationality. His father worked as an engineer in Ghana, before the newsreader was sent to boarding school in Portsmouth aged 11. Since the marriage, George and Frances shares two children togethers. Swapping the mango trees of Ghana for an inner-city British Catholic boarding school, aged 11, was a shock to my system. During his days at Durham, Alagiah was a writer and editor for the student newspaper titled palatinate. But he said he was able to look back at the "great good fortune" in his life. It was 1994 in Kabul and I had just walked out of the house I was staying in. There was a work ethic about my mother, which I've also inherited. It haunts me. '", I saved myself from Royal life, Harry says & insists 'sharing's an act of service', Love Island's Olivia Hawkins breaks silence as she returns to the UK, Loose Women star lined up to be Strictly's first contestant in wheelchair, Coronation Street fans horrified as Amy Barlow is raped in disturbing scenes, News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. According to the BBC, it would be improper for one of its top journalists to be seen promoting a campaign that plainly reflects a controversial view of global trade, in keeping with its values of impartiality. Adam Alagiah and Matthew Alagiah are two sons of George Alagiah and are his most treasured family. George Alagiah father's name is under review and mother unknown at this time. The popular journalist George suffered a lot but his wife and family were always by his side. So, I understand it, but Im afraid I no longer have it. He thinks for a moment. George Alagiah was first diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer in April 2014, which subsequently spread to his lungs, liver and lymph nodes. Disappointing, but not unexpected given this KPI was quietly scrapped for providers. George Alagiah: I'm lucky for the life I've had, but cancer will probably get me in the end The BBC newsreader, 66, says he has resolved to enjoy the present moment By Victoria Ward 3 January. Speaking on the podcast with ex-Downing Street director of communications Craig Oliver, Alagiah said that when his cancer was first diagnosed, it took a while for him to understand what he "needed to do". As well as presenting the news, Alagiah has worked as a BBC News foreign correspondent and specialist on Africa and the developing world, covering events including the Rwandan genocide and interviewing Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Alagiah also spoke of the one encounter he had with BBC podcast presenter Dame Deborah James, who died aged 40 following a five-year battle with bowel cancer in June. It is incredible what adrenalin will do, he laughs. Photograph: Eamonn McCabe for the Guardian. Frances Robathan was the Senior Partnerships Adviser of the Fairtrade Foundation, where she worked for 18 years since 2002. George Maxwell Alagiah(BBC), Bio, Wiki, Age, Height, Education, Family, Career, Salary and Net Worth. George Alagiah married Robathan the high school sweetheart in the year 1984. With friends, family and colleagues Ive shared experiences and thoughts that we otherwise wouldnt have had. George Alagiah was diagnosed with cancer in 2014. Alagiah would undergo 17 rounds of chemotherapy and three major operations. 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. After graduating from college, George enrolled at Van Mildert College and Durham University to study politics. Understanding sadness, he reflects, helps you understand joy. George and his partner are living together since thirty four years and still seems to be happy and caring for each other. the opportunities my family had, the . Health Gap. I've got the cancer still. I dont think I would have had it if I had not been living with cancer, and been in a position where I had to think if I have one year, or two years, how do I navigate myself through that., He now goes through a small ritual every evening as he goes to bed. At 11, Alagiah was sent as his sisters before him had been to a Catholic boarding school in Portsmouth. BBC newsreader George Alagiah has said he has no time to worry about death as his cancer spreads - because he is busy focusing on living. Alagiah underwent 17 rounds of chemotherapy to treat his advanced bowel cancer in 2014 and said he was a "richer person" for it upon returning to presenting the following year. Alagiah together with his lovely wife have two children namely Matthew Alagiah and Adam Alagiah Is George Alagiah married? Each day, news reporters, forecasters and presenters work hard to gather information and deliver to public via news programs, radio and news papers. (In 2011 he drew on his own experience to make a BBC2 series, Mixed Britannia. As of 2019, George's total net worth is estimated to be $3 million, which is more than another BBC journalist Susannah Streeter, whose net worth is still under review. In an interview in January 2022, the BBC newsreader said: Probably [cancer] will get me in the end. [6] He has four sisters. Education: The education details are not available at this time. I envy people who have faith. George spent his childhood in Colombo and belongs to Srilankan-British nationality. That day, it was OK. Alagiah told her he would ring back, that the most important thing was to rush home and tell family. Through my work I've seen the world at its worst and I often wish I could make it better. There is no stage five. In 2004, he returned to his grandfather's original home in Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the Asian tsunami to survey the damage. Both of them have comepleted their high school, whereas the elder son Adam is enrolled into international developement and the younger is busy on building his career as a writer. His most popular book is A Home From Home: From Immigrant Boy to English Man. When it comes to my family, I still have this sense of He stumbles briefly and uncharacteristically. And then there were people saying, come and help us with the campaign. His parents moved to Ghana in West Africa in 1961. Disappointing stats on NTP uncovered by. Both are sons, Adam Alagiah (23 years old) and Matthew Alagiah (19 years old). Taking a job at South magazine informed how I report on international affairs to this day. The minute your children are the reference point, you know you've done your job. He also states that she was waiting until the arrival of his birthday. . I find the "men versus women" thing difficult to understand because I've never seen them as different. Apart from Frances, my wife, my sisters are my closest friends. George said in a March 2018 interview with The Sunday Times that his cancer was terminal and that it could have been identified earlier if the screening program in England, which is automatically offered from the age of 60, was the same as the one in Scotland, which is offered from the age of 50. Cancer had returned in January 2018, and he would have to undergo more treatment. My dad is 85 and very frail; he lives in a wonderful residential home, but it's a 35-minute drive. His parents moved to Ghana, West Africa, in 1961, where he attended Christ the King International School for his primary education. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. On 28th June, Alagiah announced on his Twitter account that he was making "encouraging progress". He also spoke about his treatment, saying: "My doctor's very good at every now and again hitting me with a big red bus full of drugs, because the whole point about cancer is it finds a way through and it gets you in the end. Born in 1955, we will celebrate his 66th birthday on 22 November 2021. But Ive got amazing colleagues at the BBC who step in to my place on the rota.. [14], In 2020, his debut novel The Burning Land was shortlisted for a Society of Authors' award. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. "There's this collective notion of life which I think we have lost. There is no joy sometimes without sadness and they feed off each other. He pauses, as if to ask himself if he is really going to say what he is about to say. Had it happened 10 seconds later, I would have been blown up with it. After 18 months of fighting with colorectal cancer, George must have wondered if he would ever returnto his old life and the job he loves most. 'By the time I walk out of that newsroom at seven oclock in the evening, having been there since the morning, I am absolutely knackered physically, but mentally I am rejuvenated. George Alagiah Family. The latest breaking news, comment and features from The Independent. After the Asian tsunami in 2004, he went back to his grandfather's original home in Sri Lanka to look at the damage. In January 2003 he joined the BBC Six O'Clock News, which he co-presented with Sophie Raworth until October 2005, and with Natasha Kaplinsky until October 2007. I am absolutely convinced that those things that keep you content and in the present and not thinking tomorrow the pain is going to be worse, are not just useful but are proven to work. Carrying on working is a part of that, he says, just as lying on the lawn or a beach with my granddaughters [he has three, to whom he is devoted] is also a part of that., He seems to be saying that cancer has changed him, and not always in bad ways. My granddaughter's birth was a spiritual experience. George Alagiah has revealed he has undergone more than 100 rounds of chemotherapy and has spent a lot of the past 18 months in 'extreme pain' as he shared an update on his stage four bowel. A specialist on Africa and the developing world, Alagiah has interviewed, among others, Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan and President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. One thing you learn is that with cancer each day is a different day., Born in Sri Lanka, the middle child in a family of five, and the only boy, his parents Donald and Therese Tamil Catholics, a minority group in the islands population left for west Africa when Alagiah was six, deciding (correctly, as subsequent history has shown) that they wouldnt get a fair chance in their own country. If there are ill-effects of his ongoing treatment that he is trying to keep private by opting for online, then he isnt making a very good job of it. Listen on iTunes , Spotify , Audioboom, and Castbox or listen below. Me? There is clearly a private story that runs in parallel with the public appearances. Well, the couple has been together for almost 33 years with no divorce rumors and affairs. The 66-year-old newsreader was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2014 but carried on working until 2021 when he took a short break from the airwaves. His doctors agreed for a second dose of radiotherapy on the tumour near his back, deciding that the potential gains outweighed the risk of side effects. Alagiah has also been a vocal supporter of microfinance as a development tool, including recent appearances in support of Opportunity International.