LIVE ON-AIR SHOCK: BBC News presenter shares heartbreaking moment she was diagnosed with incurable c@ncer
BBC News presenter Maryam Moshiri has revealed how exhaustion and migraines she initially put down to everyday life eventually led to a diagnosis of a rare blood cancer.
The broadcaster, who joined the BBC in 2003, was diagnosed with polycythemia vera in November 2024 after routine blood tests raised concerns.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain on Wednesday, Maryam explained that there had been no dramatic warning sign at first.
“It wasn’t so much symptoms, it was more life,” she told hosts Ed Balls and Susanna Reid.
At the time, Maryam was in her mid-forties and juggling a demanding broadcasting career with raising three children under the age of 10.
She said she initially wondered whether her tiredness was linked to perimenopause, parenting or simply the pressures of her job.
‘I Thought It Was Just Life’
Maryam did remember suffering from ocular migraines, something she now knows can be linked to polycythemia vera.
But she had not gone to the doctor because she suspected cancer.
“I went to the doctor as a normal woman having six-monthly menopause checks,” she explained.
After two blood tests, her GP became concerned and referred her to specialists.
The process moved quickly.
“Within about eight weeks, I was diagnosed,” Maryam said.
Polycythemia vera is a rare blood cancer affecting the bone marrow. It causes the body to produce too many red blood cells, which can make the blood thicker and increase the risk of clots.
The condition is treatable and manageable, although it cannot currently be cured.
She Kept Working Through Diagnosis
Maryam said her instinct throughout the process was to continue working.
She recalled travelling extensively for major international news stories, including assignments in Doha, the Vatican and Greenland.
“I would be in places like Doha covering the Iran war, I went to the Vatican to cover the Papal Conclave, I was in Greenland, I did an 18-hour day in Greenland,” she said.
For Maryam, pushing through difficult days had become part of the culture she had known throughout her 25 years in broadcasting.
“We know as journalists that we work hard, we do shifts, we wake up early, we do night, and there’s that sense that’s been instilled in me over the last 25 years as a broadcaster, ‘just get on with it’.”
She also explained that television news had been her dream since childhood, making it difficult for her to turn down opportunities.
“This is my dream job to be a TV news presenter,” she said.
“So I’m not going to say, if someone calls me and says, ‘We want to send you to Doha tomorrow, can you do it?’ I’m just not going to say no.”
‘There Is Hope’
Maryam has now decided to speak publicly about her condition in support of Blood Cancer UK.
She stressed that every patient’s experience is different and that the illness can bring difficult symptoms and fluctuating energy levels.
For her, some of those symptoms were severe.
“I had headaches, I had itching so bad that I was bleeding through to my clothes at work,” she said.
Despite those challenges, Maryam said she wanted others diagnosed with the same condition to know that life can continue.
She explained that polycythemia vera is extremely rare, accounting for around 2.5% of blood cancer cases in the UK.
Her decision to speak out is partly about making sure people with the illness do not feel that a diagnosis means everything has to stop.
“You will have bad days and good days, you will find your energy levels fluctuating, you will have horrible symptoms,” she said.
“But, you can get through it. You can carry on with your life, there is hope.”
For Maryam, that message appears to be the most important part of sharing her diagnosis publicly.
What initially felt like tiredness, migraines and the strain of a busy life turned out to be something far more serious — but she is now determined to show that treatment, support and perseverance can allow patients to keep living and working on their own terms.
