Antiques Roadshow expert shares ‘heartbreak’ as she reveals brain tumour is regrowing

Antiques Roadshow expert Theo Burrell has shared the “heartbreaking” news that her brain tumour is regrowing.

Burrell, 38, who has appeared as an antiques specialist on the long-running BBC show since 2018, was diagnosed with grade 4 glioblastoma – a type of fast-growing brain tumour – in June 2022.

In a health update shared online on Wednesday (2 October), Burrell wrote: “It’s with some heartbreak that I can confirm my glioblastoma has started regrowing.

“Although this was always an inevitability it has been a difficult couple of weeks for me and my family, as we deal with the news and await a treatment plan.”

She added that she is “extremely grateful” for the “good quality of life” she has had over the past two years and the news has “fuelled” her to keep “fighting”.

“I intend to take on the next step of my journey with everything I’ve got,” she continued.

“If anything this has just fueled my fire to keep fighting for us all. We, as a community, as patients, as carers, as family and friends of those who have or have had a brain tumour, quite frankly deserve a lot better!”

Last year the ceramics expert, who joined the long-running BBC series in 2018, spoke about the devastation of receiving her diagnosis just a year after welcoming her son Jonah.

“Receiving my diagnosis, at the age of 35, when my son was just one year old, was devastating. Overnight everything had changed,” she told the The Daily Mail.

“Suddenly I’d gone from being a healthy person in the middle of my life with a new baby to having incurable cancer with maybe one or two years left to live.”

She said on Instagram in January that her brain tumour was “missed” by doctors but she eventually had a CT scan at her local A&E.

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“My symptoms included pressurised headaches, sickness, problems with my vision, pulsating tinnitus and pins and needles,” she said. “These were all as a result of a 5cm tumour in my temporal lobe, on the right hand side of my brain.”

She said she underwent brain surgery six days after the tumour was located, and 90 per cent of her tumour was removed. She then underwent six weeks of radiotherapy alongside chemotherapy before starting six rounds of adjuvant chemotherapy. She finished her initial treatment in March 2023.

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Since her initial diagnosis, Burrell has become a patron of Brain Tumour Research, a charity focused on finding a cure for all types of brain tumours and increasing the UK investment in brain tumour research.

Dan Knowles, the charity’s CEO, said: “Theo is a fantastic Patron who has developed a deep bond with countless patients and families. Our hearts go out to Theo and her family and friends as she takes this next step in her journey.”

Burrell has worked for Lyon & Turnbull as an auctioneer and specialist in decorative arts and fine antiques since 2011.

According to the Antiques Roadshow site, her expertise extends to European ceramics and glass, fine furniture, design objects of the late 19th and 20th centuries as well as works of art and taxidermy. She has an MA in History and an MLitt in Decorative Arts, both from the University of Glasgow.