Emmerdale star Frazer Hines reveals secret cancer battle and regrets over not having children

Photo shows Frazer Hines pictured at home in Newark, Nottinghamshire.
-Credit: (Image: Daily Mirror)


Emmerdale's Frazer Hines, who was Annie Sugden's son in the soap from 1972 to 1994, has opened up about why he kept his cancer battle a secret. He didn't want people's pity or to feel left out, and that's also why he chose not to have kids - something he regrets now.

Before Emmerdale, Frazer was already known in showbiz. He first showed up on screen with Charlie Chaplin in 'A King in New York' in 1957, The Mirror says.

He was Jamie McCrimmon in Doctor Who with the second Doctor Patrick Troughton for three years before joining Emmerdale. But it was his love for other things that made him leave in 1994.

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He married champion water skier Liz Hobbs and got into horses, so he decided to stop doing the soap. "I left Emmerdale because I got sick of going to work when it was dark and coming home when it was dark," he said. "I'd just got married and owned a stud farm, and so I said I would leave," reports Leeds Live.

They wanted him back the next year, but he said no, and they killed off his character. Now, though, he's said he'd be up for going back to the soap.

His love for horses saw him become an amateur jockey back in the '70s, and he's long co-owned a stud farm in Newbury. Some of his horses were even named after roles he's famously played, such as Joe Sugden and Jamie McCrimmon.

(L-R) Actors Arthur Pentelow, Ronald Magill, Frederick Pyne, Frazer Hines, Sheila Mercier, Jean Rogers, Toke Townley and Clive Hornby in character on the set of television soap Emmerdale Farm, circa 1980.
(L-R) Actors Arthur Pentelow, Ronald Magill, Frederick Pyne, Frazer Hines, Sheila Mercier, Jean Rogers, Toke Townley and Clive Hornby in character on the set of television soap Emmerdale Farm, circa 1980. -Credit:TV Times via Getty Images

Despite choosing to focus more on his business ventures and his marriage, post-Emmerdale life didn't mean slowing down for Frazer; he's featured in numerous TV series, among them Dalziel and Pascoe, Out of Sight, and, interestingly, Outlander, - a series he's partly credited with inspiring.

Before settling down with Liz, Frazer, who had a bit of a reputation as a charmer, dated many well-known and glamorous women, including Michael Caine's offspring Dominique, actress Liza Goddard, and Deborah Watling, with whom he starred in Doctor Who. He was also previously married to Irish star Gemma Craven.

Frazer's second marriage came to an end after a personal struggle with cancer, which he made public in 2010, despite having battled it secretly for 10 years since his initial diagnosis with bowel cancer in 1999.

He underwent an extensive five-hour surgery where much of his lower colon and the tumours were removed. Yet, his surgeon broke the news that the cancer had spread, necessitating chemotherapy.

Actor Frazer Hines in character as Joe Sugden in television soap Emmerdale Farm, circa 1986.
Actor Frazer Hines in character as Joe Sugden in television soap Emmerdale Farm, circa 1986. -Credit:TV Times/Future Publishing via Getty Images

At one moment, he faced a mere 25% chance of survival. In a frank interview with the Mirror in 2012, Frazer disclosed his difficult choice to hide his chemotherapy sessions from his peers whilst performing in the pantomime production of Beauty and the Beast. "I never told the rest of the cast, I just wanted to be treated naturally," he admitted.

His worries weren't just about his performances; he was also scared that his health problems might ruin his chances of getting more acting jobs. His fight with cancer caused trouble at home too, and made things hard in his marriage.

Even though they both really wanted kids, he felt he had to stop thinking about it because he was afraid the cancer might come back.

"Liz was desperate for a child. But in my mind I thought, why? I could die. Then I found the marriage was beginning to deteriorate."

Frazer has said sorry for how he acted back then: "You go through this self doubt. It was my fault, I just withdrew and said I don't want to have a family. It was incredibly selfish."

In 2003, he got divorced. Now, when he looks back, he wishes he had kids, maybe a daughter or even multiple sons.

But even with all these tough times, Frazer's career didn't stop. He was on the BBC show Doctors and went back to his famous part in Tales of the Tardis.

He also started writing, which led to him writing books about his life and a novel called Doctor Who: Evil of the Daleks. The book gives readers a new look at The Doctor's big fights, seen through the eyes of his mate Jamie.