Lynda Bellingham has bid a heart-breaking farewell to fans on what is set to be a hugely emotional episode of Loose Women.
The actress, who has terminal bowel cancer, spoke in an interview with Coleen Nolan and Janet Street Porter which is set to air later this week.
During the interview, the 66-year-old actress who is well-remembered for her role as the OXO mother in the TV adverts, explains the reasons behind her decision to stop chemotherapy and how she decided to spend Christmas with her family.
The interview with Lynda, who also penned the autobiography There’s Something I’ve Been Dying to Tell You, is extremely emotional and at one stage she turns to Coleen Nolan, who is visibly upset during the interview, and says, “Please don’t cry… it will be fine.”
When asked by Coleen how she hoped to be remembered, she replied: “Just as an honest person. We’ve been through this as Loose Women – you can’t do Loose Women unless you’re honest. You can’t hide anything, it really is honest when we answer questions. That’s why I felt I could write about it and know people would trust.
“Trust is a huge thing. Not just as an actor, not just as a lover, not just as a wife, that trust thing. Just to say, ‘You could trust her’.”
Lynda pictured with husband, Michael Pattemore (Pics: Getty Images)
Over 40,000 messages of support rolled in from fans as Lynda received a standing ovation and she thanked the public for their support since she was diagnosed in June of last year with stage-four colon cancer.
A source told the Sunday Mirror this morning: “I think they realised that they might never see her again. I think for some of them it hadn’t really dawned on them until then. It has hit the show really hard because Lynda is firmly part of the Loose Women family. Everyone feels so sad because she’s such an amazing person, but she’s showing incredible courage.
“Lynda spent four hours here and was very weak by the end of the day, but she was a model professional as always. She’s an inspiration.”
The interview will air this Wednesday at 12.30pm.
