NEIGHBOURS legend Ian Smith gave a health update amid his terminal cancer battle.
Back in December last year, the former Channel 5 actor revealed that he was diagnosed with pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma.
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This was just before he quit the long-running Aussie soap after 37 years on-screen when he received the devastating lung cancer news.
He first appeared as Harold Bishop back in January on 1987 and has been a staple on Neighbours ever since.
However, Ian, 86, gave an optimistic update on the Australian breakfast programme, The Morning Show.
Speaking on Channel Seven this week, the star admitted that he was ‘having the easiest ride’ during his appearance.
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He admitted: “I have got cancer. I know that because doctors tell me I have.
“But apart from that… No pain. I was supposed to die in March … I am having the easiest ride, seriously.”
Although his prognosis looked grim and the disease was described as “non-fixable,” by doctors, the actor has been placed on an experimental treatment plan.
He jokingly described himself as a “guinea pig” as he reveals that he has ‘defied expectations.
Ian added: “I want to go forever … I don’t want to play Harold anymore, but I don’t want to stop acting.”
“I’ve possibly never felt better. Everyone looks at me and says, ‘Look at your hair.’
“They are all jealous I’ve got so much hair. I went through the treatment, started to lose my hair and went totally bald. I then went onto the immunotherapy and got a head full of hair… not just hair, but curly hair.”
The star also said that he hoped to live for more than doctors first anticipated, saying he wants at least another “year, maybe two.”
Despite quitting the popular soap, Ian says that he still wants to get involved in the art form that he loves so much.
He admitted: “I’m not cured, but I’m here. And I feel fine.”
Neighbours stars who made it big
The long-running Aussie soap has launched the careers of some of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Here are some of the Neighbours alums who went on to make it big after starring on the soap…
Kylie Minogue
- Before she hit the big time with her music career, Kylie shot to fame playing Charlene Mitchell on Neighbours. Shortly after her arrival, Kylie began an on and off-screen romance with co-star Jason Donovan, who played Scott Robinson, which gained the couple an army of adoring fans.
Jason Donovan
- After his stint as Scott, singer and actor Jason became an international popstar and had his pick acting of roles. He moved to the U.K., married, had children and has since starred in over a dozen West End show, most notably Joseph and his Technicolour Dreamcoat.
Alan Dale
- New Zealand born actor Alan was one of Neighbours 12 original cast members having made his debut as Jim Robinson on the soap’s first episode on 18 March 1985. As the head of the Robinson clan, widower Jim lived at Number 26 Ramsay Street with his children Paul, Julie, Scott and Lucy, and was a real anchor in the community. He stayed with the show for eight years, before his character was killed off in dramatic scenes aired in 1993 but which still reverberate through the soap to this day.
Margot Robbie
- Way before she was Barbie or Harley Quinn, Margot was best known as Ramsay Street resident Donna Freedman. Her notable storylines included her marriage to Ringo Brown and becoming a young widow following his tragic death. After three years she bid farewell to the soap and Australia with a plan to make a name for herself in Hollywood which she did when she bagged the role of Naomi Lapaglia opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street.
Jesse Spencer
- Jesse rocked up on Ramsay street in 1994 with the rest of the Kennedy clan. He stayed for five years, literally growing up in front of the camera, but in 2000 felt it was time to spread his wings and head for Hollywood. It was certainly a smart move as he went on to bag leading roles in popular shows like House and Chicago Fire.
Russell Crowe
- New Zealand-native Russell had a brief arc on Neighbours, appearing in four episodes of the soap 1987 as Kenny Larkin, the former cellmate of Street resident Henry Ramsay. The role obviously got him noticed though because he quickly went on to become a fully-fledged Hollywood A-lister, winning the Best Actor Oscar for his standout performance as Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius in Gladiator.
He had previously been told he was expected to die by March this year, but thankfully he’s been able to extend his life thanks to immunotherapy which has helped him defy the odds.
He previously opened up on his condition on GMB, as he remarked: “It’s a cruel, ugly, brutal place, and I don’t know how, but it looks like I’m having the best luck in the world with defeating this cancer.
“Although the oncologist can’t tell me that, they said because this cancer is so rare, so drastic, so severe, so awful, they don’t know, they don’t know what it’s going to do.”
“After my last treatment I asked, ‘How long do I have to keep going with these treatments?’,” he added, explaining he was told he can stop at any time.
[I’m having] no pain. I was supposed to die in March … I am having the easiest ride, seriously
Ian Smith
“[The doctor] said ‘No. We know so little about this cancer that we don’t know that if you stop taking the treatments, it may roar back into life’.
“So I said: ‘Look, for an hour’s treatment every three weeks I think I can put up with that’ and it looks like these very clever people are going to keep me alive.”
The star left viewers in tears after filming his emotional final scenes in Neighbours.
Harold announced he was moving across the country away from Ramsay Street to Port Douglas, Queensland.
- Visit our Neighbours page for the latest gossip and spoilers
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