Dame Esther Rantzen, who presented BBC show That’s Life! for 21 years and launched the charity Childline, has died at the age of 86.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the veteran broadcaster and campaigner had “changed countless lives”.

Dame Esther hosted and produced That’s Life! during its run from 1973 to 1994. It regularly attracted 20 million viewers for its mixture of serious consumer investigations and light-hearted items.

She launched Childline, a British counselling service for children and young people, in 1986, and in 2013 she launched Silver Line to help elderly people suffering from isolation and loneliness. Later in life, she became a prominent campaigner for the legalisation of assisted dying.

She had been terminally ill with lung cancer. In December 2023, she revealed she had joined Dignitas, the Swiss assisted dying clinic.

But in a statement given to the Press Association earlier this month, she said that despite having “spent the money and made the plans” to go to Dignitas, she had since reached the point where she was “too physically fragile to make the journey”.

She added that the law must “change and change quickly”, as she renewed her plea ahead of the latest debate and vote on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which failed to pass through the Commons.

The broadcaster revealed her cancer diagnosis in January 2023, saying the news had prompted her to express “profound thanks to everyone who has made my life so joyful”.

In a statement announcing her death on Wednesday, Dame Esther’s family paid tribute to the “most wonderful mother” and “cherished grandmother” whose compassion would live on through her charities.

“We hope the humour, ingenuity and audacity she brought to her work may continue to inspire you as it will do us.”

Rantzen joined BBC radio as a sound effects assistant before becoming a TV researcher, and in 1968 she trained as a producer and director.

The young broadcaster became a researcher and reporter for Bernard Braden’s consumer affairs programme, Braden’s Week.

When That’s Life! launched in 1973, she was its figurehead and became a popular fixture on screens as the show’s formidable and fun-loving presenter and producer.

The consumer show’s notable items, according to her website, external, included “talking dogs, Jobsworth Awards and campaigns on behalf of abused children, organ transplants, safe playgrounds, and to provide justice for consumers”.

Its most-viewed episode featured Sir Nicholas Winton being introduced for the first time to survivors he had saved from the Holocaust, during a 1988 instalment of the show.

Later in her career, she also appeared on Strictly Come Dancing, First Dates and I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!

Dame Esther was married to documentary film-maker Desmond Wilcox from 1977 until he died in 2000. They had three children.

She was made a dame in 2015 for her services to children and older people.

Dame Esther went on to become a vocal campaigner for the legalisation of assisted dying.

In December 2024, she spoke of her “great relief” after MPs backed proposals to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales, before they ultimately stalled in the House of Lords.

In an interview with the Sunday Times, external in November 2025, before the bill ran out of time, she said that “as long as others in the future will be able to ask for help to die as they choose, I will die happy”.

She expressed her disappointment after MPs voted against a fresh attempt to introduce the legislation in September. Some disability campaigners described the result as a “victory”, while Dame Esther said it was “deeply sad that it won’t come soon enough for many of the people who need it”.

“I am sure a change in the law will come,” she added.

Figures from politics, broadcasting and the charity sector have paid tribute to Dame Esther for her impact on public life.

The prime minister said he would “always admire the characteristic courage and openness with which she spoke about her illness, making us all think about the difficult questions we face at the end of life”.

BBC director-general Matt Brittin paid tribute to Dame Esther as a “legend of British broadcasting” whose contribution to public life was “immeasurable”.

“Her warmth, spirit and fight for justice and action that we saw on our screens continued long after the programme ended, with a lifetime of campaigning where she changed the lives of millions,” he said.

Fellow broadcaster and money saving expert Martin Lewis called Dame Esther an “inspiration” and a “pioneer” whose “impact and memory will long continue to shine”.

Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP who sponsored the assisted dying bill, told the BBC that Dame Esther was a “wonderful mix of strength and feistiness, but also really deep compassion and kindness” – and that she would continue to inspire campaigners.

Chris Sherwood, the chief executive of the NSPCC, which runs the Childline helpline, said Dame Esther had gone to “exceptional lengths to ensure children and young people across the UK had somewhere to turn when they were in need of help”.

Dame Esther’s That’s Life! co-presenter Bill Buckley told the BBC’s Radio 4 Front Row programme that “nothing would stop her” when it came to campaigning.

“She saw the light at the end of the tunnel and followed it doggedly,” he said.

Dame Elaine Paige, known for her roles in West End productions like Cats and Evita, paid tribute to a “great broadcaster, journalist and campaigner”.

She said: “Her Childline, the confidential counselling service for young people in distress, helped so many children and The Silver Line was aimed at older people suffering loneliness and isolation.”

Anton Du Beke, Dame Esther’s partner on Strictly Come Dancing, shared a photo of the pair dancing together in the 2004 series, writing that the two had “remained firm friends” ever since.

He praised her “breadth of knowledge and passion” and called her “the ultimate breaker of the glass ceiling”, adding: “She will be greatly missed and my sincere thoughts are with her family.”

Presenter Timmy Mallet, who starred in a series of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! alongside Dame Esther, said he was thinking of her after they had “shared the jungle together”.

He captioned a collection of photos of the pair: “God bless you Esther”.

Davina McCall wrote on Instagram that Dame Esther had “made the world a better place, and inspired so many of us to do better and live life to its fullest.”

The message accompanied a video of the former Big Brother host discussing how Dame Esther was an “inspiration to girls like me when we were growing up”.

Presenter Amol Rajan said Dame Esther “changed the course of millions of lives” as he paid tribute, calling her “an inspirational, strong woman ahead of her time”.

“Not bad for a bright, Hertfordshire girl born during the early stages of the Second World War.”

Watch Katie Razzall’s half-hour special programme Esther! on iPlayer. It will also be shown this Friday, 2 October, on BBC One at 19:30 BST.

Get our flagship newsletter with all the headlines you need to start the day. Sign up here.