Baroness Joan Bakewell says she feels “serene” at the prospect of dying amid her battle with colon cancer.
Speaking to The Mirror the Labour peer explained: “When you’re my age a lot of your friends have died already; dying is on the agenda, it’s waiting for you’.
“I thought ‘Oh, it’s my turn. My turn to go down’. So I felt quite serene about it.”
Adding: “At my age, a lot of people you have known have died. So I thought, ‘Well if they can do it, I can do it.”
The English journalist and television presenter went on to tell the publication that she did “not feel her age” and despite turning 90 on April 16, revealed she had delayed her planned 90th birthday party until later in the year when she had completed chemo.
Dame Joan, who has had a career spanning more than 50 years and lost her sister aged 58 to cancer, first revealed that she had been diagnosed with cancer in January after it was detected during a routine examination.
She swiftly underwent surgery and has since been having chemotherapy, which she described as “inconvenient” as she has continued to work, including filming the TV painting competition Landscape Artist Of The Year for Sky Arts.
In an interview with The Times Weekend magazine, she said: “I’ve recovered from that (surgery). I’m feeling fine, and the chemotherapy is a mopping-up operation to make sure it doesn’t come back.
“It’s inconvenient, of course, for work, but I’ve only missed one day’s shooting – and it’s quite hard to sleep at night, but as I tend to wear extremely loose clothes now no one’s noticed it.”
