Known for styling the likes of Kylie Minogue, Paul McCartney, Helen Mirren and even the Queen, celebrity hairdresser Trevor Sorbie MBE has revealed that he has just “weeks to live” after receiving a terminal bowel cancer diagnosis.
The 76-year-old – who is a regular guest on This Morning – appeared on the show recently, where he shared the news with Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley. “When I asked a nurse if I’d still be here at Christmas, she said, ‘We don’t know, Trevor’. And that annoyed me,” he said. “I’ve got cancer in my body, but not in here. My brain is my engine and I’ll go when I’m ready.”
In an interview with the Times, Sorbie said: “Chemo might give me another month, but I can’t face any more of that poison.”
Sorbie became famous in the 70s for his innovative hairstyle ‘The Wedge’ and became the first hairdresser to be awarded an MBE.
Speaking with The Standard in 2012, Sorbie laid out the journey of his illustrious career – working for iconic names like John Frieda and Vidal Sassoon in the early days (he once quit the latter because the commute from Essex was too expensive) to setting up his charity, My New Hair, in 2009. After styling a wig for his sister-in-law, Jackie – who was undergoing chemotherapy for bone cancer – he began educating hairdressers on how to cut wigs and communicate with clients with terminal illnesses. “I am just a hairdresser but I have found out that I am a little bit more than that, too,” he said.
Recalling one instance when he cut a wig for a bride-to-be in a hospice, he said: “I was worried about doing it but soon realised she was a living person that was enjoying her special day. We laughed and joked. She survived for her wedding. I know that what I did in those 20 minutes of getting her ready for it was the most important thing I have ever done. I did something that the medical profession couldn’t do. I put a smile on her face.”
In addition to speaking to Shephard and Deeley about the insomnia he’s experienced due to steroids, the hairdressing icon opened up about first learning about his diagnosis. “I lost a lot of blood one night and was unusually disturbed so went to hospital,” he said.
“They told me I had bowel cancer and I had a little panic attack. I looked at Carole [his wife] and she looked at me, we were both speechless, didn’t know what to say. So I went and had a big gin and tonic.”
As well as bleeding, Sorbie revealed he had been suffering from diarrhoea and constipation for months before his diagnosis, which are common symptoms of the illness. Other symptoms include a feeling of fullness and not completely emptying the bowels.
To find out more about bowel cancer, visit Bowel Cancer UK.
