Debbie McGee 'passionate' about brain tumour awareness

Debbie McGee has teamed up with a charity in a bid to raise awareness about brain tumours 10 years after the death of her husband Paul Daniels.

The magician, who became one of the biggest stars on British TV, was diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour in 2016, dying at the age of 77.

A decade on, McGee said she felt it was the "the right time to put myself behind something that I'm passionate about" after being in showbusiness for 50 years.

"When Paul died, what really horrified me is I didn't know any of the facts," the Berkshire-based presenter said.

Daniels was a TV performer most famous for his magic show that ran on the BBC from through the 80s and 90s, regularly attracting more than 15 million viewers per week.

But McGee said she noticed something was wrong from about Christmas in 2015.

"He'd lost his sparkle is how I would describe it, I hadn't really noticed anything else," she said.

"And then it was probably six weeks before he died that I noticed... he wasn't acting normally. He wasn't answering me in a normal way.

"I took him to A&E and they did a scan and saw the brain tumour immediately.

"Paul had the fastest growing brain tumour, which is a Glioblastoma, and they literally said, it's too late to do anything."

As a family they decided to enjoy the remaining four weeks and five days they had left with him.

The Brain Tumour Charity says brain tumours are the biggest cancer killer of children and adults under 40, yet account for just 1% of cancer research funding.

McGee, who is the new patron for charity Brain Tumour Research, said: "The rest of the money they raise themselves, and they've been working so hard to do it... but if you look, the treatment hasn't changed in the last 20 years... it's still so far behind."

She added: "I just felt research is the way to go. We've got to find a cure."

The government says its National Cancer Plan will improve survival for rarer cancers, including brain cancer, through things like earlier detection and improved treatment, and that it is going to invest millions.

McGee said she is still stopped in the street by people who recognise her.

"Not a day goes by that somebody doesn't stop me and say 'you were part of my childhood, we all sat down to watch your show on a Saturday night', and 10 years down the line I would have thought that people would have forgotten him but they really haven't," she said.

"They really did love him which is very comforting to me."