{"id":92154,"date":"2025-08-24T11:04:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-24T11:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/92154\/"},"modified":"2025-08-24T11:04:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T11:04:09","slug":"neighbours-star-ian-smith-shares-major-health-update-after-being-diagnosed-with-terminal-lung-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/92154\/","title":{"rendered":"Neighbours star Ian Smith shares major health update after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"

By MEGAN WATTS, SHOWBUSINESS REPORTER, AUSTRALIA<\/a> <\/p>\n

Published: 04:52 EDT, 24 August 2025 | Updated: 06:27 EDT, 24 August 2025 <\/p>\n

Ian Smith has shared a positive update amid his terminal cancer battle.<\/p>\n

The beloved Neighbours star, who portrayed Harold Bishop, revealed he hopes to return to work\u00a0after immunotherapy successfully slowed the progression of his cancer and extended his life expectancy.<\/p>\n

The 86-year-old was diagnosed with an aggressive lung cancer\u00a0called pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma, which doctors initially told him was ‘non-fixable’.<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘It (the cancer) has evened out and immunotherapy is keeping it there and my markers have been the same for the last three treatments,’ he told the\u00a0Herald Sun.<\/a><\/p>\n

‘They (the medical team) don\u2019t know why I have had this incredible result, they can\u2019t tell me why I am not giving in to cancer.’<\/p>\n

The good news has given Ian a new lease of life, fuelling his hopes to make a limited return to acting, either in small roles or doing voiceovers.<\/p>\n

\"Ian <\/p>\n

Ian Smith has shared a positive update amid his terminal cancer battle\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The beloved Neighbours star, who portrayed Harold Bishop, revealed he hopes to return to work after immunotherapy successfully slowed the progression of his cancer and extended his life expectancy\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘I have said to some very smart people that I wanted to finish my career on the stage,’ he said, adding: ‘Wouldn\u2019t it be nice if I got a small part in a stage play?’\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ian recently admitted that he has lost friends while battling\u00a0cancer<\/a>, revealing\u00a0that not everyone has stuck by his side.<\/p>\n

‘I can’t understand that. I don’t want them to love me but at least stay as they were with me,’ he told\u00a0The Morning Show.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘But, no, they’re quite physically walking away from me and it’s a very strange feeling. I wish they’d tell me why.’<\/p>\n

Ian added that he is doing well in terms of his health and has so far defied the odds.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘I get a bit nauseous sometimes, but that’s not much,’ he said of how he’s feeling physically.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘I was supposed to die last month\u2026 I’ve possibly never felt better,’ Ian continued.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘Everyone looks at me and they say, “Look at your hair.” And they’re all jealous because I’ve got so much hair.’<\/p>\n

\"'It <\/p>\n

‘It (the cancer) has evened out and immunotherapy is keeping it there and my markers have been the same for the last three treatments,’ he told the Herald Sun.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ian stepped down from his long-running role last year amid his terminal cancer battle<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

‘I want to go forever,’ he said at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘I don’t want to play Harold anymore, but I don’t want to stop acting.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

The veteran performer joined Neighbours in 1987.<\/p>\n

He went on to become one of Ramsay Street’s most iconic faces, known for his wholesome charm, slow-burning romances, and multiple disappearances.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Share or comment on this article:
\n Neighbours star Ian Smith shares major health update after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By MEGAN WATTS, SHOWBUSINESS REPORTER, AUSTRALIA Published: 04:52 EDT, 24 August 2025 | Updated: 06:27 EDT, 24 August…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":92155,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,100,134,68428,701,2017],"class_list":["post-92154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-dailymail","tag-entertainment","tag-neighbours","tag-queensland","tag-tvshowbiz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92154\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}