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Caroline Aherne is recovering from treatment for lung cancer, she announced yesterday. The writer and actress, one of her generation’s pre-eminent comedy talents, has already fought two battles against the disease – the first when she was a baby.
She revealed that she is facing cancer for the third time as part of a charity drive to raise money to treat other patients suffering from the disease.
Caroline Aherne (pictured her with Joseph Fiennes in 1999) is recovering from treatment for lung cancer, she announced yesterday
Battler: Caroline Aherne is said to be 'winning' her battle with lung cancer, with her situation has reportedly improving since she was originally diagnosed
Battling on: Caroline has already beaten cancer twice before in the past
Relaxed at home: Caroline having coffee with a friend outside her Soho home in 2003
The Mrs Merton star, 50, said of the appeal: ‘I’ve had cancer and my brother’s had cancer and we know how it affects people.’
As an infant, Miss Aherne suffered from a rare cancer of the retina – like her brother, Patrick. She was treated but left almost blind in one eye. More recently, she also had treatment for bladder cancer.
The first sign of her latest problems came when comedians and old friends John Thompson and Arabella Weir were recording a Fast Show comeback last December. Miss Aherne was absent – without explanation.
It seems particularly cruel, given the many demons she has conquered, that she has once again been struck by cancer just as she was finally finding balance and happiness in her life.
In recent years, living in a modest red brick house in the unfashionable Manchester suburb of Timperley, around the corner from her mother Mary and brother, she has been ‘much brighter’.
This newfound contentment contrasts sharply with her decision 13 years ago to ‘quit showbusiness’ having found herself desperately unhappy, before having a breast reduction and moving for a time to Australia. She has survived a suicide attempt, alcoholic blackouts and electric shock therapy for depression. There have been numerous stays at the Priory.
Royal snap: Caroline was photographed by Lord Lichfield for Radio Times
Family matters: Caroline (left) with ex-husband Peter Hook in 1995 and (right) with mother Maureen in 1999
An entrepreneur whom she hoped would be the love of her life sold an unflattering kiss and tell, saying that she binged on two bottles of Bollinger a night, and was a needy workaholic.
That was six years ago, and friends say she’s been single ever since. ‘If there is a partner, we are not aware of him,’ said one.
Her brother Patrick, who lives close to her in south Manchester, told Macmillan Cancer Support that she was diagnosed ‘late last year’. He added that the form of lung cancer she is suffering from is genetic and linked to the retinoblastoma she had as a baby.
‘Her bladder cancer was also genetic and linked to the retinoblastoma,’ he added.
The Mrs Merton star, 50, has had cancer three times
Despite her condition, the good news is Miss Aherne appears to be keeping active and positive. She records voiceovers for the Channel 4 hit Gogglebox every week – a task which she also enjoyed in the show’s first series last year.
She has been spotted on nights out at the Frog and Bucket comedy club in Manchester, and at a modest local Italian restaurant with her family.
She is said to look thinner than many remember her on television, and is sometimes heavily made up. She is very close to her elderly mother, whose bungalow is just 50 yards away. One local even observed Mary weeding Miss Aherne’s garden for her.
Another neighbour said: ‘Caroline is a very private person and doesn’t really come and go much. It is a very ordinary street where ordinary people live. It’s more Terry And June than Made In Chelsea here.’ He added: ‘Like any neighbour, we just wish her well and hope that she is healthy.’
Miss Aherne, who no longer smokes, will speak about her condition on June 26 at an event hosted by Macmillan.
Yesterday, she told the BBC: ‘They’ve asked me to get involved and I’m really glad that I can do my bit to encourage Manchester people to speak up about where things do go wrong with cancer care.’ She said it was ‘truly shocking’ that the city had come bottom of 150 areas in England for premature deaths from the disease.
So what has ‘Mrs Merton’ been doing since slipping so deliberately out of sight?
She has been writing, mostly with her closest friend Craig Cash, and also taking up some minor performing roles.
Most recently she provided a voice for the BBC’s animated children’s series Strange Hill High.
Caroline and her Royle Family cast: The Royle Family: Sue Johnston, Ralf Little, Craig Cash, Liz Smith, Caroline Aherne (centre), Harry Cash and Ricky Tomlinson
She wrote the drama The Fattest Man In Britain for actor Timothy Spall in 2009, and also The Security Men in 2013 for Brendan O’Carroll, better known as Mrs Brown.
There was the Royle Family Christmas special in 2012 – she and Cash failed to come up with a script in time for one in 2011.
She also appeared as a barmaid in a comedy with Steve Coogan in 2008.
However she has largely opted not to be on screen any more, having famously resolved to quit television in 2001 because she no longer wanted to be famous.
Character actress: Caroline Aherne as the irrepressible Mrs Merton
Award winner: Caroline with Royle Family co-stars Liz Smith (left) and Sue Johnston (right) with the Comedy Award at the South Bank Awards in 2001
Back on track: In August 1998 Caroline returned home to London after checking out of the Priory Hospital after an overdose drama and admission she is battling alcoholism
Royle Wedding: Caroline in her wedding dress in a scene from The Royle Family in 1999
Friends say that she is now kicking ideas about for a sitcom which she is developing for the BBC. It’s not the heights of Mrs Merton, but then that’s quite deliberate.
She doesn’t need the money, having made a killing selling London flats in Soho and Maida Vale – probably a profit of a million or more – and now lives a very unstarry life in the home she bought outright in 2006 for £370,000.
Latest accounts filed by her company Mitzi Entertainment Limited reveal that the firm made a loss of £31,000 in the year to 2012, but it still has total assets of £44,000.
One of her recent holidays was a cheap and cheerful hop to Benidorm in Spain with her mother.
TV Royalty: The Royle Family:(Clockwise from top left) Ralf Little, Sue Johnston, Craig Cash, Caroline, Ricky Tomlinson and Liz Smith
As for her old hard-partying Manchester comedy crowd, she sees almost no one except Cash. Fast Show star Charlie Higson remarked recently that he hadn’t seen her in a decade.
When Miss Aherne made the Royle Family Christmas special two years ago, her fellow cast members reported that she was ‘relaxed’ and happy. And she loves doing the voiceovers for Gogglebox.
Though she’s faced yet another setback in a troubled life, there is no doubt Miss Aherne is a fighter. As she said yesterday: ‘I will be narrating this week’s Gogglebox, and I will continue to narrate Gogglebox for as long as Gogglebox want me.’
200's Back Passage To India was a comedy that was close to Caroline's heart - a road movie where they attempt to save sight in the Third World
Good tip: In 1998 Caroline was on screens in TV adverts for PG Tips
LUNG CANCER: THE BIGGEST KILLER IN WOMEN DUE TO SMOKING
Lung cancer is expected to become the biggest cancer killer among women, overtaking breast cancer.
This is because of the number of women who took up smoking in the 1960s and beyond.
People who have never smoked can develop lung cancer, but about 90 per cent of cases occur in smokers.
Exposure to radon can also increase lung cancer risk as can pollution, particularly from diesel fumes.
Every year, more than 41,000 people are diagnosed with the disease in the UK.
As it is usually diagnosed late, the prognosis for many lung cancer patients is not as good as for those with other cancers.
About one in three people with the disease will live for at least a year, while less than one in 10 will live for five years.
It is particularly dangerous as there are often no symptoms in the early stages.
As the cancer develops, symptoms can include a persistent cough, coughing up blood, breathlessness, tiredness, weight loss and an ache or pain when breathing or coughing.
Other possible symptoms include persistent chest infections, loss of appetite, wheezing, a fever and a hoarse voice.
Lung cancer mainly affects older people - it is rare in those under 40 and is most commonly diagnosed in those aged between 70 and 74.
Treatment depends on the type of cancer and how far it has spread.
If it is diagnosed early, surgery can usually be performed to remove the affected part of the lung.
Otherwise, radiotherapy can be used to destroy the cancerous cells.
If it has spread too far for radiotherapy to be effective, chemotherapy may be required.
The best ways to prevent lung cancer are to give up smoking, to exercise regularly and to eat a diet rich in fibre, fruit vegetables and whole grains.
This is because of the number of women who took up smoking in the 1960s and beyond.
People who have never smoked can develop lung cancer, but about 90 per cent of cases occur in smokers.
Exposure to radon can also increase lung cancer risk as can pollution, particularly from diesel fumes.
Every year, more than 41,000 people are diagnosed with the disease in the UK.
As it is usually diagnosed late, the prognosis for many lung cancer patients is not as good as for those with other cancers.
About one in three people with the disease will live for at least a year, while less than one in 10 will live for five years.
It is particularly dangerous as there are often no symptoms in the early stages.
As the cancer develops, symptoms can include a persistent cough, coughing up blood, breathlessness, tiredness, weight loss and an ache or pain when breathing or coughing.
Other possible symptoms include persistent chest infections, loss of appetite, wheezing, a fever and a hoarse voice.
Lung cancer mainly affects older people - it is rare in those under 40 and is most commonly diagnosed in those aged between 70 and 74.
Treatment depends on the type of cancer and how far it has spread.
If it is diagnosed early, surgery can usually be performed to remove the affected part of the lung.
Otherwise, radiotherapy can be used to destroy the cancerous cells.
If it has spread too far for radiotherapy to be effective, chemotherapy may be required.
The best ways to prevent lung cancer are to give up smoking, to exercise regularly and to eat a diet rich in fibre, fruit vegetables and whole grains.
Lighting up: Steve Coogan and Caroline filming Sunshine in 2008 where she made her TV comeback as a barmaid
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