A Neighbours legend who was told he wouldn’t live past March has given a huge health update.
Ian Smith, known for his iconic role as Harold Bishop in the Australian soap, was given the grim warning after being diagnosed with an aggressive and rare lung cancer last year. However, the 86-year-old has now revealed he is beating the odds.
“That’s why I’ve got this solid grin on my face,” Ian said. “Apart from being 86, I feel good. I’m in no pain. I know I have cancer, because doctors keep telling me I have it.”
Back in December 2024, Smith made the tough decision to say farewell to Neighbours after discovering he had pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma, leaving his doctor so moved they cried whilst breaking the news.
This led Smith to view life through new lenses. He told The Guardian: “I began doing very dramatic things, like looking at every sunset, watching children play. The week before, I would have killed them.”
(Image: Handout)
Smith prepared for the end, feeling the weight of mortality shift his perspective. “Dying does change how you live,” he acknowledged.
“I vainly say I am a better person now, but I think I am more forgiving, more understanding. It is a pity that I couldn’t have come to all these realisations [before] I was sick – I could have done somebody some good in the world.”.
Then, in a turn of events mirroring the best of soap opera twists, his treatments of chemotherapy and immunotherapy brought unexpected results. He revealed that, in his latest scan results, “not a speck of red” was spotted – indicating his tumours had gone.
His life expectancy has now been extended to Christmas 2026, which Ian reflected on with a mix of pragmatism and poignancy. “I am in this funny, vacuous place,” he shared.
“They can’t say the cancer has gone – in fact, they mustn’t, because it has come back in other people and they have died of it. But honestly, if they told me it had come back now, I would be ready this time.”
(Image: X)
Credited with giving life to the iconic Harold Bishop for more than two decades, Ian became an emblematic figure for soap enthusiasts, not just Down Under but also in the UK.r.
Despite enduring heartbreaking losses like the passing of his wife Gail to cancer in 2019, Smith holds on to a profound appreciation for a life he deems “most privileged”.
In a testament to his zest for life, last year, when he qualified for voluntary assisted dying (VAD), a critical moment arose. A pharmacist offered to send the necessary medication to his home, but Smith declined, wary of the potential impulse to use them during moments of despair.
Choosing to focus on the joy of living rather than the spectre of death, he looks forward to celebrating the days ahead.
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