BBC 6 Music host Lauren Laverne has announced she has been diagnosed with a rare blood and bone marrow disorder that can be linked to blood cancer.
The presenter and former Kenickie frontwoman, who also hosts Desert Island Discs and The One Show, took to Instagram to reveal the news but assured readers the diagnosis does not require treatment at the moment.
“Hey. So – personal news,” she began in her post that was shared on Friday (July 17). “I’m quite a private person by nature, but am sharing this as one of the many things I’ve learned after going through health challenges in recent years is that talking about this stuff helps people.”
“I’ve been diagnosed with something called smouldering myeloma (yes that is a weird name and no I’d never heard of it either). It’s an asymptomatic blood and bone marrow disorder that in some people can develop into blood cancer.”
“Thankfully the risk of this happening in my case is pretty low,” she continued. “At the moment I feel OK and don’t need treatment. Most people my age who have it have no idea – it tends to be cancer survivors like me who are diagnosed early as we’re so carefully monitored. It has nothing to do with my previous illness or my recent surgery, it’s just one of those things.”
She went on to say that the condition is “chronic”, and means that her immune system is compromised and requires regular monitoring through “blood tests, MRIs, and bone marrow biopsies.” She also thanked her colleagues at 6 Music, family, and her GP.
“I’m taking a couple of weeks holiday and will be back to work as normal after that” she concluded, before promising she will discuss her experiences “soon”.
The diagnosis comes nearly two years after revealing she had received a cancer diagnosis in August 2024, which had been caught early and treated to the extent that she was given the “all clear” by November of that year. “I now see more beauty in ordinary things than I could have imagined,” she said at the time, “and feel more than ever that the small things in life – the connections we make and care we take with each other – are the big things really.”