Actor Sam Neill, politician Marama Davidson, and comedy duo and activists the Topp Twins have all shared their cancer diagnoses in recent years. Photos / NZ Herald
Actor Sam Neill, politician Marama Davidson, and comedy duo and activists the Topp Twins have all shared their cancer diagnoses in recent years. Photos / NZ Herald
About 25,000 Kiwis are diagnosed with some form of cancer every year, according to the Cancer Control Agency.
Many famous New Zealanders have gone public with their cancer diagnosis in recent years.
Over the past few years, several well-known Kiwis have been diagnosed with cancer - from actor Sir Sam Neill to Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson.
Some, including Neill and comedian Dai Henwood, have chosen to share their diagnoses months or even years after the fact, balancing the need for privacy in their own lives with calls to their fellow Kiwis to take their health seriously.
Neill, Henwood and entertainment legends the Topp Twins have all drawn on their experiences with different forms of the disease to write and publish memoirs; Dames Jools and Lynda’s book was recognised at the 2024 Aotearoa New Zealand Book Industry Awards this year.
Here are 10 high-profile Kiwis who have used their platform to raise awareness of cancer and share what they’ve learned from their experiences so far.
Dames Jools and Lynda Topp revealed in 2022 that they'd both been diagnosed with cancer. Photo / Alyse Wright
They became Kiwi television staples with their show The Topp Twins, playing characters Camp Mother, Camp Leader, Ken and Ken, which led to a feature film and TV spinoffs; they were made Dame Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to entertainment.
In an exclusive interview with TVNZ’s Sunday, the sisters shared that Jools was first to be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006 at the age of 48 - and that her cancer had returned in 2021, when beloved sister Lynda was also diagnosed with the disease.
Speaking to the Herald ahead of accepting their award, the sisters shared their gratitude for the countless New Zealanders who bought and read their story.
“It just really gives us a sense that we’re still loved and remembered,” Jools said.
“We haven’t sung for such a long time - we’ve been out of action and I still have treatment every four weeks to stop my cancer from spreading, and so our lives have changed quite considerably.
“We still have cancer, but we just take each day as it comes. We’re both pretty good at the moment.”
The pair are planning to return to the stage in 2025.
Sam Neill
Sir Sam Neill is now in remission two years after being diagnosed with a form of blood cancer. Photo / Ross Coffey
Last year, Jurassic Park star Sir Sam Neill revealed he’d been diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a form of blood cancer, in 2022.
He underwent chemotherapy treatment after his cancer diagnosis, but it stopped working after three months and he switched his treatment to a rare anti-cancer drug which led him into remission.
Neill has now been in remission for 2 years, telling the podcast Kate Thornton’s White Wine Question Time last month, “If this had happened to me 20 years ago, I wouldn’t be around to talk to you. I go in [for treatment] once a month now. But it used to be three times a month and it’s down to once a month now.”
“I’m in remission and working as you see. And I couldn’t be more glad about that,” he said from Vancouver, where he was shooting new Netflix series Untamed.
He’s also recently starred in Australian drama series The Twelve. When he isn’t busy with acting projects, he’s tending his Central Otago winery Two Paddocks.
The actor’s family has been in the wines and spirits industry ever since they arrived in Aotearoa in 1861, though he’s the first to actually grow wine since establishing his vineyard in 1993.
“It’s been a very rewarding thing for me to be part of such a young industry, and I think we’ve done wonderful things in Central Otago,” he said.
Dai Henwood
Dai Henwood - comedian, dad, husband and TV host - shared his stage 4 bowel cancer diagnosis in January 2023. Photo / Michael Craig
Comedian of 7 Days fame and Lego Masters host Dai Henwood was diagnosed with cancer in his bowel and liver in April 2020. But it wasn’t until January 2023 that he made his diagnosis public, adding that it had spread to his lungs.
“Almost three years ago I was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer,” he wrote on social media at the time.
Since then, he’s undergone multiple rounds of chemotherapy, radiation and operations. Henwood has continued to share updates on his treatment and has drawn on his comedy chops to help other Kiwis living with cancer, working as an ambassador for the Cancer Society, hosting live show The Comedy Treatment and his own show Dai Hard to raise funds.
Henwood told the Herald last year, “I’m blessed that I’ve been able to help out quite a few people who are in a similar situation to me ... I just feel so blessed that so many beautiful New Zealanders have seen my comedy and supported me through what is a very hard journey.”
He’s since written a book, Life of Dai, with close friend Jaquie Brown, and recently released a three-part documentary Live and Let Dai on ThreeNow. The doco shows viewers the harrowing reality of coming to terms with a stage 4 cancer diagnosis, interspersed with footage from his live comedy gigs. Henwood writes himself a goodbye letter, undergoes a departure ceremony in Japan, and concludes by telling viewers that “the joy of living is all that remains”.
“I don’t know how this is gonna work out, but it’s gonna work out.”
Marama Davidson
Greens co-leader Marama Davidson shared her cancer diagnosis with the public in June 2024. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Her cancer was found early during a regular mammogram, she said, telling journalists at the time, “I have held off telling people about my diagnosis while I continue to focus on parliamentary work.
“I do want to be clear, we are fortunate to have picked this up early enough to give us the best odds of getting rid of it, thanks to the breast screening programme. I reiterate how important it is that our breast screening programmes … can make sure more people are screened in time to save lives.
“Wāhine mā, please book in your mammograms.”
In September, Davidson thanked supporters for the “overwhelming and beautiful aroha that you all keep sending through to my whānau and I”.
“Sitting around [Marama Davidson’s] kitchen table today planning the world our communities and mokopuna deserve - and how critical her wellbeing and genuine recovery is to everything we believe and must practice,” she wrote.
“Basically, it was really bloody lovely to give this boss a hug today - three days after her most recent chemo infusion - and remind her how excited we are to get her back when she’s through her recovery.”
“[My surgeon], he said it was inoperable because the tumour has spread out too far through the stomach lining, and it was also incurable just because of where it’s at,” Latta, 57, said.
“People talk about trauma. I’ve been through some pretty traumatic things. That was probably the most traumatic thing I’ve ever been through.”
At the time, his surgeon told him that he probably had just 6 months to a year to live. However, chemotherapy has caused his lymph node activity to clear and the tumour in his stomach to shrink.
Latta believes he has longer than a year, sharing on social media, “I’m pretty sure I’m going to be around for quite some time.”
His advice to others going through cancer or other health issues was, “First thing, we don’t choose the things that happen to us, but we can choose how we respond. Second thing, focus on the things you can control.”
Latta is undergoing chemotherapy for another two months “and then we’ll see where we’re up to”, he said.
“One of the good things about cancer, is you don’t need to worry about cancer, because you’ve already got it. I don’t have to worry about getting cancer, I just have to worry about dying from cancer.”
Lorna Riley
Lorna Riley was diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time in 2022. Photo / Supplied
At the time, she told listeners, “Unfortunately for me, they found something this time a bit more serious than last time in the other breast: a grade three tumour and also in the lymph node as well. Luckily a scan has shown it hasn’t travelled anywhere else in my body. So for that I’m very, very grateful indeed ... very pleased this has been caught early enough to be treated.”
She underwent chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery, amid a difficult year following an endometriosis diagnosis, the death of her brother, and separating from her husband.
She underwent genetic testing after her second diagnosis, which showed she had the BRCA2 gene, increasing her risk of getting ovarian cancer. Riley had her ovaries and fallopian tubes surgically removed in April 2023.
“Out of the blue, I suddenly started worrying about things that aren’t in my control. I try not to dwell on problems if I can, but there’s no doubt that I’ve changed hugely as a person as a result of my experiences,” she shared.
On her doctor’s recommendation, she started taking mood stabilisers alongside looking after her physical health.
“I’m in my mid-fifties and next birthday I’ll probably have to start saying I’m in my ‘late fifties.’ It got me thinking about how I want to spend the rest of my life. And I don’t want to spend it worrying,” she told the magazine.
“The way I see it, the treatment has dealt with the cancer, but I must do my part when it comes to keeping myself healthy.”
She underwent five months of chemotherapy, announcing in July 2021 that she was in complete remission following her treatment.
Stott told the Herald in 2022 amid her return to the field that during her treatment “I’d go for a walk around the block and my heart rate would be at 160 and I’d be pretty tired. Going from being an athlete to hardly being able to walk around the block was pretty hard. After I finished treatment the next three months were hard mentally but I just had to be patient.”
Through it all, she was constantly looking ahead to the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup. “It was huge. What more motivation do you need than a home World Cup in 2023?”
“I never thought it would be out of reach. There were challenges, and a lot of hard times along the journey. But I never thought I wouldn’t be able to get here,” she told the Herald at the time.
“It’s been a big couple of years for me. It’s been quite tough, but I’ve definitely worked hard to get back to where I am. I am so happy to be here today.”
Kiri Allan
Kiri Allan revealed her cancer diagnosis in 2021. Photo / Alan Gibson
She recalled experiencing pain in her legs, back and stomach, which she put down to the stress of working long hours in her role as a member of Parliament. It was colleague Ayesha Verrall who urged her to see a doctor.
“I’ve told a few folks by now, and often the question is, ‘is there anything I can do?’. My answer now is yes. Please, please, please - encourage your sisters, your mothers, your daughters, your friends - please #SmearYourMea - it may save your life - and we need you right here.”
She told Woman’s Day in June 2022, “It’s been a tough year - I can’t lie about that. But the journey I’ve been forced to go on has also been an incredible gift ... I feel like I’ve been through a bit of a rebirth and a reset.”
Aaron Cruden
Aaron Cruden was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 19. Photo / Photosport
Shortly after making his debut for Manawatū, he was forced to cut the season short, undergoing surgery and nine weeks of chemotherapy.
In December 2008, shortly after announcing he was in remission, he reflected, “You never expect to hear you have cancer at the age of 19.
“That was a big shock ... my life was just beginning. My rugby was just starting to go well.”
In 2015, he ruptured his ACL, which ruled him out of the Rugby World Cup that year. At the time, Cruden said he drew on his experience with cancer treatment to cope with the injury and recovery.
“Before the cancer, rugby used to kind of rule my life - everything revolved around it. When I wouldn’t make a team or played a bad game, it would eat me up. Now everything is different. I’m just so happy to be here.”
He’s now an ambassador for the Sarcoma Foundation, aiming to help raise awareness of the rare cancer.
This story has been updated to correct Lorna Riley’s current surname.
For more information or support following a cancer diagnosis, you can contact these organisations:
