TV host Barry Du Bois has opened up about his ongoing struggle with cancer, sharing a heartfelt letter in which he recounts a doctor’s advice that he had just “three months to live.”
Du Bois described the poignant moment he sat in a chilly consultation room at St Vincent’s Hospital, accompanied by his wife, following a series of scans and biopsies.
“A doctor who had known me for just a few hours looked me straight in the eye and told me I had three months left,” he expressed in an essay published in the Herald Sun.
He mentioned that three doctors were present when he received the devastating news, but he bravely said, “Thank you for your advice, but I’m not going to accept that, and I would prefer if you left the room.”
“You may not understand my determination to live, but if you do your part, I’ll handle the rest.”
Although that doctor’s prediction was incorrect, Du Bois continues to fight against Multiple Myeloma, an incurable blood cancer that affects the immune system and bone marrow.
In his letter, Du Bois reflected on other significant challenges he has encountered in life.
He had previously experienced a fall of 14m from a roof, resulting in a broken back and a severely injured leg. He also faced years of unsuccessful fertility treatments with his wife, Leonie, who was diagnosed with cervical cancer just two weeks after a miscarriage during their 12th cycle of IVF.
“When I received my diagnosis—incurable cancer, three months to live—I didn’t crumble. I didn’t accept that prognosis,” the presenter of The Living Room stated.
“I realized that by confronting earlier challenges in life, I had built the strength to fight my toughest battle yet.”
Du Bois made his television debut in 2011 as a competitor on a renovation series before co-hosting The Living Room alongside Amanda Keller, Dr. Chris Brown, and Miguel Maestre.
In 2012, he and Leonie welcomed twins through surrogacy, an experience he described as the most “extraordinary moment” of his life.
“They are the reason I continue to fight, the reason I remain strong, and the reason I greet each morning with a smile.”
