Terminally ill Goody to wed

Published on Saturday 14 February 2009 18:43

REALITY TV star Jade Goody is to marry after being told by doctors that she has just months to live, it emerged last night.

The 27-year-old mother of two has been told that her cancer has become terminal. After learning the news, Goody's boyfriend, Jack Tweed, 21, proposed to her – on the eve of Valentine's Day – at her hospital bedside, and the couple now plan to marry as soon as possible, according to Goody's spokesman, Max Clifford.

He said she was "devastated" at the news, and was now working to put her legal affairs in order as she faced up to the harsh reality of her condition.

Goody, who rose to fame through Channel 4's Big Brother, was first diagnosed with cervical cancer in August and had a golfball-sized tumour removed during a lengthy procedure last Friday.

However, Goody, originally from Bermondsey, south London, learned that her cervical cancer had spread to her bowel, liver and groin.

She is being treated at the Royal Marsden Hospital in Chelsea, London. It had been hoped that treatment with a new drug, Topotecan, would prolong the reality star's life. However, doctors have said the cancer is so far advanced that there is nothing more they can do.

Goody has two young children, Bobby, five, and Freddie, four. Clifford said: "She was informed yesterday that, tragically, she's terminally ill. She was obviously devastated."

He said doctors had told her she had only months to live. "It's a question now of when and not if," he said.

He added: "She's hoping to go home for a few days. She feels safer in the Marsden because she's in a lot of pain and they control that pain."

Goody found fame after her appearance in the 2002 series of reality television show Big Brother.

Her anarchic appearance on the show won her a place in the nation's affections and she has lived in the spotlight ever since.

But she hit the headlines for the wrong reasons in 2007 after she was accused of racism and bullying toward Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty when the pair appeared on Celebrity Big Brother.

Clifford said Goody's family were trying to cope following disclosures that her cancer had become terminal.

He said: "It's been very difficult for Jack. He proposed to her yesterday and they are going to be getting married as soon as possible.

"Both boys are going to be christened also. Jade is taking control of the situation. She's being incredibly brave and positive about all of this."

He said she would have to explain to her children the severity of her condition.