Who are Rebecca Wilcox, Miriam Wilcox, and Joshua Wilcox? All about Dame Esther Rantzen's children as TV presenter quits ChildLine

Dame Esther Rantzen announced on December 7, 2023, that she has decided to step down as the president of ChildLine, following her cancer diagnosis. According to The Independent, Dame Rantzen's daughter, Rebecca Wilcox, will deputize Childline, a counseling service for children and young adults, in the former's place.

Earlier this year, Dame Esther revealed that she was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and added that she is doing her best to hold the disease back. At the time, the 83-year-old said that she was diagnosed "last January."

"This is the Christmas I thought I wouldn't see because last January I was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer," Dame Esther added.

Dame Rantzen is a familiar face in the UK and is known for hosting multiple BBC shows like That's Life!, It's a Knockout and That's Esther. Apart from this, she has also written multiple books, including an autobiography, and has written about her work in ChildLine.

Apart from Rebecca Wilcox, Esther Rantzen has two other children, Miriam and Joshua, whom she shares with her husband Desmond Wilcox. He was a famed broadcaster and award-winning documentary filmmaker. Desmond died at the age of 69 at St. Mary's Hospital in London on September 6, 2000, following a heart attack. The couple had been married for 23 years at the time.

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Dame Esther Rantzen and her husband Desmond Wilcox have three children

Esther Rantzen and Desmond Wilcox got married in December 1977 and have three children, Miriam, who is 45, Rebecca, who is 43 and Joshua, who is 42. The three grew up in their home in London.

While a lot of information isn't available on Miriam and Joshua, Rebecca seemed to have followed in her mother's footsteps. She is a television presenter for the BBC on the show Watchdog.

Miriam, who was named Emily at birth, was 14 when she was diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis, which cast a dark shadow on the Wilcox family. She has since made significant progress in her health journey. Meanwhile, her brother Joshua works as a physician in London.

Esther has always been transparent about her struggles as a working mother and has opened up about the challenges of maintaining a healthy work-life balance. She continues to be outspoken about the importance of providing ongoing support to working mothers. She credits being a parent as a huge source of motivation and inspiration for her charity work and aims to create a better future for children in the UK through ChildLine.

As mentioned earlier, Following her resignation as the president of ChildLine, Esther Rantzen's daughter, Rebecca will be deputized as the next president. In a joint statement released to The Mirror, both Esther and Rebecca said that since the latter had grown up with ChildLine, she would be a perfect fit for the role. Rebecca added that she was deeply honored to be considered for the position.

The statement noted that a broadcaster and journalist, Rebecca was "very in touch with the challenges facing young people today."

"Rebecca is about to start training as a volunteer counselor and is greatly looking forward to meeting as many volunteers and staff and visiting as many bases as possible," it added.

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Dame Esther Rantzen's fantastic work with ChildLine

Dame Esther Rantzen founded ChildLine in 1986 to provide help for children and young adults in the UK up until the age of 19. For the past 37 years, Dame Esther's organization worked to be one that can be trusted by children and young people across the UK for guidance, support, and help. ChildLine is now a part of NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children).

Dame Esther Rantzen will spend Christmas with her three children, Rebecca, Miriam, and Joshua, and her five beloved grandchildren.