(Picture: BBC/PA Wire)
EastEnders star Laila Morse secretly battled cancer for a second time in 2025, according to her co-star Lacey Turner.
Laila, 81, first marched into Albert Square as Big Mo Harris in 2000, as ‘nan’ to the Slater sisters and rock to their dad Charlie.
The actress has dipped in and out of the soap ever since, and battled breast cancer in 2005.
However, Lacey – who stars as Mo’s bolshy great-niece Stacey – has revealed Laila was struck with cancer again last year, but until now has kept her battle with the disease secret from the public.
Lacey’s autobiography, Gold Dust: My Life (So Far) with the Women Who Shaped me was released earlier this month and naturally the Big Mo actress is among the trail-blazing heroines to be featured.
In it, Lacey, 38, celebrated Laila with all her heart, writing: ‘As a person, she is such a positive presence with an unstoppable energy. Nothing phases her. She carries absolute faith that everything will work itself out and be alright.
Laila stars as Stacey Slater’s great-aunt Big Mo in the BBC soap (Picture: BBC)
‘Mo is undoubtedly an Albert Square matriarch. Away from the cameras, she’s had to overcome some brutal setbacks.
‘Laila is hardcore, one of life’s survivors, something that was never more evident than when she was diagnosed with cancer in 2025. More than 20 years after beating it for the first time.’
Lacey revealed alarm bells rang when some of the cast were celebrating Michelle Ryan’s return to the BBC soap after 20 years at executive producer Ben Wadey’s house, when she asked why Laila wasn’t there.
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‘Shane, Jess, Jill and I were there but Laila was missing. “Where’s Laila,” I asked. “Oh, Laila’s not well, but don’t panic, it won’t be anything serious,”’ Lacey recalled.
Laila battled breast cancer in 2005 (Picture: Getty)
The Strictly star went on holiday for a few weeks and didn’t read too much into it until she got back and Laila bluntly told her: ‘“Hey, you won’t f***ing believe this, they ain’t polyps, it’s f***ing cancer.”’
Lacey wrote that she was stunned but even in the face of cancer, Laila was remarkably nonchalant, assuring her: ‘Nah don’t worry about it, I’ll just get it cut off and I’ll be alright.’
‘She shrugged it off as if it was nothing more serious than a common cold, and went in for surgery as calmly as you like,’ said Lacey.
‘She was in agony after the operation though, raging that ‘she’d never felt f***ing pain like that in her life, and said they ‘should’ve just left it there I’m nearly done anyway.’
Metro has contacted Laila’s representatives for comment on this story.
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