Dame Esther Rantzen's daughter Rebecca breaks down in tears over her mother's ... trends now

Dame Esther Rantzen's daughter Rebecca broke down in tears during an emotional appearance on Wednesday's Loose Women while discussing her mother's cancer diagnosis.

The Childline founder, 83, was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer last year, and has since revealed she has joined the assisted-dying clinic Dignitas in Switzerland. 

Rebecca broke down as she watched an emotional video montage of Esther, admitting her diagnosis is the news 'no one wants to hear.'

She added that she was 'a little surprised' by Esther's decision to join Dignitas, but she has 'chosen how she wants to live.' 

Rebecca said: 'It's the news that no one wants to hear. She promised to live forever, so she is quite embarrassed that she has had to go back on that.

'You just want someone to say this is what you have and this is how long it will take but they can't.'

Discussing Esther's decision to join Dignitas, Rebecca told the panel: '

'I knew probably at the same time as you, it was a little surprising. I know the last thing she wants are for our memories of her to be replaced by a traumatic death.

'She is who she is and she is so bright and brilliant and the last thing she would want is to become something else in her last moments.

'My brother said that living with mum is like living next to a volcano and you never know when it will go off.'

'She has chosen how she wants to live so it makes sense that she should be debating this.'

'She is watching now and its making me really nervous because I don't want to feel like I'm putting words in her mouth.

'I do understand that their are a few evil people who would take advantage of this but it works in other countries. Absolutely protect the vulnerable but someone like mum who has made her opinions very clear, what is there to debate.'

In December, Esther revealed she has joined assisted-dying clinic Dignitas in Switzerland and will consider going there to end her life should her next scan show she is getting worse.

Dame Esther has also reignited the debate over assisted-dying after calling for national debate on the subject, saying people deserve 'the choice' over how they pass away.

She previously revealed she had not expected to spend this Christmas with her family after being diagnosed with cancer, but a 'miracle' drug had given her additional time with her loved ones. 

Writing in her column for The Mirror, her daughter Rebecca, 43, explained: 'It’s not often that you know beforehand it will be the last time you will dish out turkey and pull crackers at the table with your mother, but that’s what this year has been for us.

'She thought she would be dead in spring, but a miraculous drug has meant that we have another

read more from dailymail.....