Laila Morse secretly battled cancer again in 2025, Lacey Turner reveals
Laila Morse secretly battled cancer again last year, Lacey Turner has revealed.
Laila Morse secretly battled cancer again last year.
The EastEnders legend - who is best known for her portrayal of Big Mo Harris on the soap - was treated for breast cancer in 2005 and now co-star Lacey Turner has revealed the 81-year-old actress underwent a second round of treatment for an unspecified form of the disease in 2025.
According to The Sun, she wrote in her autobiography Gold Dust: My Life (So Far) with the Women Who Shaped Me: “As a person, she is such a positive presence with an unstoppable energy.
“Nothing fazes her. She carries absolute faith that everything will work itself out and be alright.”
“Mo is undoubtedly an Albert Square matriarch. Away from the cameras, she’s had to overcome some brutal setbacks.
“Laila is hardcore, one of life’s survivors, something that was never more evident than when she was diagnosed with cancer in 2025. More than 20 years after beating it for the first time.”
Lacey first discovered Laila was unwell during a dinner with producers ahead of bringing back Michelle Ryan's character Zoe Slater.
Lacey, 38, said she got an inkling that something wasn’t quite right when they were all at EastEnders producer Ben’s house for dinner ahead of bringing Michelle Ryan’s character of Zoe Slater back to the soap.
She recalled: “Shane, Jess, Jill and I were there but Laila was missing. ‘Where’s Laila,’ I asked. ‘Oh, Laila’s not well, but don’t panic, it won’t be anything serious’.”
Lacey then went on holiday and on her return, her co-star told her: “Hey, you won’t f***ing believe this, they ain’t polyps, it’s f***ing cancer.”
But the veteran actress had taken the news in her stride.
She told Lacey: “Nah don’t worry about it, I’ll just get it cut off and I’ll be alright.”
Lacey added: “She shrugged it off as if it was nothing more serious than a common cold, and went in for surgery as calmly as you like.
“She was in agony after the operation though, raging that ‘she’d never felt f****** pain like that in her life, and said they ‘should’ve just left it there I’m nearly done anyway’.”
