Celebrity Chefs Who've Sadly Been Diagnosed With Cancer

Celebrity chefs have become such cultural fixture that we get wrapped up in more than just their culinary creativity. So when a life-shaking event like a cancer diagnosis becomes a part of their story, it becomes a part of ours as well. Some take a public approach, letting their audience know from the beginning and keeping them clued in as the situation progresses. Others opt for privacy, only revealing their situation after the treatment has begun — or a victory has been claimed. Sadly, some don't emerge victorious, and their cancer diagnosis only becomes known once they've succumbed to the disease and its effects.

When Gordon Ramsay revealed his skin cancer diagnosis at the end of August, his purpose was two-fold: He was letting the world know what was happening in his own life while urging everyone to get checked for themselves. It was a reminder that this disease can strike anyone, from family and friends to the famous folks we all love and admire. And when it happens to celebrity chefs, their stories often inform and inspire others to keep their own health front-of-mind.

Of all Gordon Ramsay's most notorious feuds, his fight against skin cancer may turn out to be the one that gets the most attention. When he appeared with a bandage on his face in late-August 2025, he assured his followers that he hadn't had a face lift. Instead, he'd had a suspicious spot removed, one that turned out to be Basal cell carcinoma — the most common form of skin cancer in the world. 

Luckily, Ramsay has access to a crack crew of professionals who were able to remove the spot and prepare him for further care and observation. He shared a post-procedure photo on Instagram that showed the tell-tale bandage covering his neck and jaw, just below his left ear. He praised his medical team for making fast work of removing the offending spot and shared his gratitude for their care. In return, fans showered the celebrity chef with words of encouragement and shared their own stories of grappling with skin cancer. 

With the frequent occurrence of skin cancers due to often unavoidable sun exposure, Ramsay is quick to remind his public to remember their sunscreen when heading outdoors. Annual check-ins with a physician are also advisable to keep an eye on spots that may seem harmless but can develop into something more serious over time.

Proprietor of the ultra-chic Atelier Crenn and its similarly-branded offshoots, celebrity chef Dominique Crenn received word of her Stage II metastatic breast cancer in 2019, shortly after receiving three of her four Michelin stars. Crenn's cancer was triple negative, a rare type of invasive cell that can be difficult to treat. For Crenn, it meant 16 rounds of chemo therapy, resulting in her emerging cancer-free by the end of 2020.

As a cancer survivor, Crenn now uses her considerable clout to draw attention to breast cancer causes. It was a continuation of the community caring she's shown throughout her career, whether transforming her restaurant into a community kitchen during the pandemic or speaking out against factory farming. 

In an exclusive Mashed interview, the gourmet luminary explained how her diagnosis and subsequent treatment realigned the overall vision for her career and her life. One of the most notable shifts has been Crenn's view on food. "It's so funny because I feel that I've always eaten very healthily throughout my life," she told writer Crawford Smith, "but now, I focus more on understanding where food is coming from."

Part of Crenn's re-envisioning of food was partnering with Hard Rock Café in 2023 for a Pinktober breast cancer fundraiser. The culinary creative re-imagined Baja shrimp tacos as a luxury dish for the event, a tribute to her California home. As of 2025, her exploration of healthier cuisine continues, in the form of her self-created Bleu Belle Farm.

As an "America's Test Kitchen" alum, Elle Simone Scott has become famous for sharing recipes and cooking tips. Her multifaceted career keeps her busy as a stylist, judge, and cookbook author, with regular guest appearances on Food Network shows and radio programing peppering her calendar. As a cancer survivor, the celebrity chef has become an outspoken advocate for making sure others know the signs and get checked for a similar diagnosis as early as possible.

Scott's diagnosis came in 2016, after she sought medical help ongoing bouts of pain and fatigue. It took more than a year for her to find physicians who would identify a cancerous cyst on her ovary through an MRI. She was 39 at the time, and had no idea that her family had a history of cancer. Surgery to remove the ovary revealed Stage 1c grade 3 ovarian cancer; six rounds of chemotherapy helped Scott achieve remission. A recurrence in 2020 led to further treatment, and as of 2024, the chef and food stylist has found success as part of a trial for an immunotherapy that's helped beat back her cancer's progress.

Rather than a survivor, Scott told the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute that she considers herself a "cancer thriver." Becoming a volunteer at Massachusetts Ovarian Cancer Coalition allowed Scott to advocate for women of color, who are often overlooked in the cancer community. Scott is also a board member of Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance, or OCRA, the largest organization in the world tackling all gynecological cancers. 

Top Chef favorite Shirley Chung was establishing her name in the culinary world when she was hit with surprise Stage IV squamous cell tongue cancer diagnosis. Chung had already undergone six weeks of chemotherapy when she dropped the news to her adoring public in July 2024. An Instagram video showing the chef shaving her own hair was a shock to her followers, but a relief to Chung, who'd been grappling with symptoms and signs since the previous December.

The truth about Shirley Chung is that her fighting spirit extends beyond the kitchen. Since the cancer had progressed so quickly by the time it was diagnosed, one of the options to keep the cancer from progressing was surgery to remove Chung's tongue, a possibility the culinarian couldn't entertain. Instead, Chung chose a grueling schedule that included 27 chemo treatments over a nine-week span, followed by 50 radiation treatments over the course of a month, coupled with a 24-hour chemo drip.

The aggressive approach was successful, and Chung's initial three-month check-up revealed that she was 98% cancer-free — a percentage that jumped to a full 100% by her six-month check-up. Though her healing journey continues with relearning how to speak and adapting to solid food again, Chung is optimistic about life and credits her fans' support for helping her through.

With his Boutique Café food truck and his 2go catering company setting a bougie standard in the world of mobile food preparation, chef Ryan Scott has a foothold on gourmet greatness. But before he made a name for himself in the culinary industry, he faced a childhood cancer battle that taught him the meaning of perseverance. Scott was diagnosed at age 8 with pediatric colon cancer. After his diagnosis, both his father and grandfather developed the disease as well. But for such a young child, it was a shocking diagnosis that came with chemotherapy and a dire prognosis that led his parents to believe he wouldn't survive.

What pulled him through, Scott says on his episode of the YouTube series "The Patient Story," was faith, prayer, and medication. As a healthy 40-something in the clip, the chef suggests colonoscopies become as common as going to the fuel station; the results can be life-saving, and the procedure comes with a long nap and the chance to fill up on sweet drinks as part of the prep.

In all seriousness, though Scott doesn't mention his cancer situation in his website biography, it seems to have set him on a particular path through life. In addition to regular checks for his family members, Scott lent his celebrity to childhood cancer causes by appearing at a 2012 benefit for Ronald McDonald House, a charity that helps families of sick children with housing and accommodations.

Despite being a U.S. citizen and an Arizona native, celebrity chef Ken Hom has dazzled the culinary world since his 1980s BBC cooking show "Ken Hom's Chinese Cookery" made him a household name. He's made a big enough impact to be honored with as a CBE, or Commander of the British Empire, a distinction similar to being knighted. He's also a cancer survivor who received a diagnosis of prostate cancer in 2010, after a Hong Kong check-up revealed his PSA count to be higher than expected. Further tests showed the count to be even more elevated, and a subsequent biopsy revealed that cancer was indeed the cause.

Rather than undergoing chemotherapy or surgery, Hom opted for proton-beam therapy, a non-invasive radiation treatment that directs high-energy particles at the tumor. He also reconfigured his eating habits and became semi-vegan, a move the celebrity chef credits with helping him stay cancer-free. Since his treatment, his PSA count has remained low, and he's encountered no side effects.

Prostate cancer is relatively common, with about one in eight men receiving a diagnosis in their lifetimes. To help others become aware of how the disease works and how it can be treated and controlled, Hom's own experience inspired him to become an ambassador to Prostate Cancer U.K. Now 75, Hom's life maintains an enviable balance, with food, friends, and charity work keeping him vital.

Plant-based culinary creative Chef AJ built a presence by demonstrating techniques for elevating the idea of vegan eating. Through books, TV shows, and YouTube videos, she's spread the word that eating plant-based can be delicious and healthy. So when she received a stage 3 lung cancer diagnosis in 2024 after learning about tumors in her lungs two years earlier, the celebrity chef, who's followed a plant-based diet for almost 50 years, was understandably thrown for a loop.

Once she knew what she was facing, Chef AJ's commitment to wellness through nutrition became even more crucial. In a YouTube episode of the American Association for Cancer Research podcast, she explained how an earlier colonoscopy that revealed polyps led her to adopt a more whole food version of plant-based vs vegan eating. She also described being unable to have a lobectomy to remove the tumors in her lungs due to a phobia surrounding anesthesia. Instead, she investigated other options, eventually landing on an immunotherapy drug called Keytruda as a treatment.

Her journey has inspired a new enterprise, a YouTube series called "Thriving in the Face of Cancer." Just as she has with plant-based eating, Chef AJ is now dedicated to raising awareness of cancer testing and treatment, as well as prevention and support.

You may recognize once-famous celebrity chef Fatima Ali from her appearances on "Top Chef" and "Chopped" in the 2010s. You may also have heard that this celebrity chef was diagnosed with a rare type of bone cancer called Ewing sarcoma in 2017. Word of the disease came just after Ali filmed her "Top Chef" appearance. A 2018 CBS Mornings essay written by a then-29-year-old Ali to her 18-year-old self shared the heartbreaking fear of wondering how far her incurable cancer had spread, yet learning how to rise above the uncertainty.

In January 2019, after a considerable gap in her Instagram posting habits, Ali updated followers with a hospital photo, passing on the sad word that she was getting sicker. It would be the last post Ali shared; the next came on January 25, 2019, informing her audience that the celebrity chef had passed while surrounded by loved ones.

Friends, fans, and family members keep Ali's memory alive by posting tributes on her Instagram page. The account has become a celebration of her life, her love of food, and her influence on the food world as a Pakistani woman. A posthumous memoir celebrating her fighting spirit became her final words to the world. Though she was only 29 years old when she died, Ali's impact on the food world lives on indefinitely.

Chef Sandra Lee may have been surprised by her breast cancer diagnosis in 2015, but it turned out to be a shift that led her into a new phase of both her life and her culinary career. She had just been named one of People Magazine's Most Beautiful People when a biopsy she'd had earlier in the week returned a breast cancer diagnosis. Lee had DCIS, known as the most common type of pre-malignancy, but one that doesn't necessarily develop into invasive cells. Unfortunately, Lee's did. To address the situation as completely as possible, Lee opted for a double mastectomy.

But Lee would face another cancer hurdle, this time resulting in a 2022 hysterectomy. It was another phase of the overall journey, one that had kept Lee from completing reconstructive surgery after her mastectomy. As of 2025, Lee appears to be in glowing good health; her Instagram profile shows her enjoying life and surrounding herself with the world of food, as expected.

Lee felt it was important to share her diagnosis and her treatment with the public, following her well-known pattern of honesty and intimacy. Her efforts to inform and inspire have resulted in helping pass New York state legislation to give residents better early detection and care access. For a celebrity chef who's hosted two Food Network shows and authored nearly 30 books, Lee's boundless energy seems like a perfect fit for getting the word out about cancer care.

Though he used to cook in restaurants, Kevin Ashton has become a celebrity chef after beginning a career cooking for the Pi Beta Phi sorority at the University of Nevada. His post-pandemic shift came after an alumnus of the university caught his videos and invited him to cook for the students instead. One semester turned into four years and counting, with over 5 million TikTok followers tracking his creations. Now, his Instagram feed is filled with reels of the digital celebrity chef conjuring meals and snacks for his eager audience.

With his stage 4 metastatic melanoma diagnosis coming in September 2023, Ashton was only given a 30% chance of survival. A subsequent mutation caused new tumors to grow; Ashton and his medical team countered with radiation and immunotherapy infusions. The result? The sorority chef is now considered cancer-free.

Ashton shared his journey through treatment with his fans, posting updates while undergoing therapy to offer good humor and encouragement for others going through similar battles. It's a different kind of celebrity chef cancer story that he offers, but an encouraging one just the same.

U.K. celebrity chef James Martin became a fixture as a cook and TV host for the BBC. His presence on shows like "Saturday Kitchen" and "James Martin's Saturday Morning" have made him a familiar face and a welcome presence in the homes of the culinary curious around the country. Similar to fellow celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, Martin was diagnosed with skin cancer on his face, a condition that caused what he describes as "debilitating pain" as he underwent treatment.

Unlike Ramsay, Martin chose to keep his condition out of the public eye. The hosts' audience was thrown for a loop when Martin announced his cancer battle in 2023 — five years after his initial diagnosis and treatment. It came as part of an apology for accusations of bullying leveled at Martin by members of his shows' productions. Regular treatments were required for several recurrences, though it isn't clear whether Martin was onscreen during those periods, or if his procedures were visible to viewers.

In 2024, Martin issued a rare update regarding his health, after having undergone surgery to remove a recurrence of his cancer; he described his condition to Hello! magazine as positive and was looking forward to moving "onwards and upwards" . As of 2025, he's finally feeling back to himself, and his cancer struggle appears to have left him a more mellow culinary fellow.

The genius behind the three Michelin-starred restaurant Alinea, celebrity chef Grant Achatz was struck with tongue cancer, a diagnosis that strikes as cruelly ironic for a creative who depends on his sense of taste for his artistry. Early signs of something being amiss in his early 30s were attributed to Achatz' busy working schedule, coupled with caring for his newborn baby. A small white dot that had appeared on his tongue persisted for the next four years, eventually becoming sensitive to temperature and making it difficult for Achatz to swallow.

When he was finally diagnosed in 2007, he discovered he had stage 4 tongue cancer that had spread to lymph nodes in his neck. Though the survival rate for his cancer was 40%, Achatz faced losing most of his tongue. After consulting with doctors at University of Chicago, the celebrity cook found a clinical trial that included eight weeks of chemotherapy and six weeks of radiation. The team was focused on preserving his tongue as well as his life.

What could have been a catastrophic turn ended up being an opportunity for Achatz to prove his mettle. The treatments ended up shrinking and ultimately eliminating the tumor, though Achatz did lose his sense of taste and smell as a side effect. As of 2025, this celebrity chef and cancer survivor celebrates the 20^th anniversary of opening his world-famous restaurant — and almost as many years being a cancer survivor.