The family of Dame Esther Rantzen have paid tribute to the Bafta-winning broadcaster and charity founder following her death at the age of 86, describing her as "the most wonderful mother" and "cherished grandmother".

In a statement reported across national media, her family 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".

Dame Esther had been terminally ill with lung cancer, having first announced her diagnosis in January 2023. Earlier this month, she revealed in a statement to the Press Association that although she had previously "spent the money and made the plans" to travel to the Swiss assisted dying clinic Dignitas, she had become "too physically fragile to make the journey".

Her pioneering broadcasting career began in BBC radio as a sound effects assistant before she moved into television research, eventually training as a producer and director in 1968. She went on to work as a researcher and reporter on Bernard Braden's consumer programme, Braden's Week.

When That's Life! launched in 1973, Dame Esther became its lead presenter and producer, steering the show through a 21-year run until 1994. The programme regularly attracted 20 million viewers, balancing hard-hitting consumer exposés and social justice campaigns with light-hearted items like talking dogs and the Jobsworth Awards.

The show's most-viewed moment came in 1988, when Sir Nicholas Winton was introduced live on air to Holocaust survivors he had rescued decades earlier. In later years, she remained a regular presence on television, appearing on programmes including Strictly Come Dancing, First Dates, and I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!

Alongside her television work, Dame Esther had a profound impact on British public life through her charity initiatives. She established Childline in 1986 to offer support and counselling to young people, and later launched Silver Line in 2013 to support older people facing loneliness and isolation. Her public service earned her a damehood in 2015.

In her later years, she channelled her energy into campaigning for the legalisation of assisted dying. She welcomed initial parliamentary progress in December 2024 with "great relief" before the measures stalled in the House of Lords, telling the Sunday Times in November 2025 that "as long as others in the future will be able to ask for help to die as they choose, I will die happy".

When MPs subsequently voted against a fresh attempt to introduce the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill in September, Dame Esther voiced her sadness, noting it was "deeply sad that it won't come soon enough for many of the people who need it". That vote was described by some disability campaigners as a "victory".

Tributes have also come from across broadcasting and politics. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said she had "changed countless lives" and praised the courage with which she spoke about end-of-life care, while Labour MP Kim Leadbeater remembered her as a "wonderful mix of strength and feistiness, but also really deep compassion and kindness". Dame Esther was married to documentary film-maker Desmond Wilcox from 1977 until his death in 2000, and is survived by their three children.

Her impact on British charity work and consumer journalism will be felt for generations to come. I'll be following this one — check back for updates.