Holly Willoughby supports her longtime friend as she opens up about her son’s cancer battle

Holly Willoughby supported her friend when she appeared on This Morning to discuss her son’s battle with cancer.

The 41-year-old presenter asked her friend Hannah Peckham about the charity campaign she started when her four-year-old son Bodhi was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

In the viral challenge, the contestants wear a pair of pants on their heads, with Holly and Phillip Schofield happy to participate and pose for the show.

British author Hannah Peckham, who is also the stepsister of Zoe Ball, started the #pantstoleaukemia movement while four-year-old Bodhi was undergoing grueling cancer treatment.

“For me, as a mother, having to give her chemotherapy and thinking, ‘God, I have no control over this,'” she told This Morning. ‘To feel that I can help…’

The idea came about when his young son was stuck in the hospital receiving treatment instead of celebrating his birthday.

However, instead of losing heart, little Bodhi ran, naked, with his underpants on his head.

“Even though she’s been through this…it’s just…a little ray of sunshine,” Hannah said.

Speaking about her son’s diagnosis, Hannah revealed that she was worried that Bodhi always seemed to be sick and had a hard time catching his breath.

Holly recalled: “I remember we were talking at the time and you said, ‘It’s just one thing after another,’ he keeps getting one virus and then another.”

Speaking of the emotional moment she found out her son had leukemia, Zoe Ball’s stepsister Hannah said: “I literally just wanted to leave my body.”

“It’s like I looked at myself and I could see myself in the room with the two doctors there and I just wanted to run away, but I knew I had to for Bodhi.”

‘That was the only thing, otherwise I would have walked out of there.’

Later in the show, rapper KSI appeared to talk about his new single, but he wanted to show his support for the campaign, so he sat down with a pair of pants on his head.

Hannah’s sister Zoe, who is currently battling Covid, took to Instagram after the segment to share: “So much love for my beautiful stepsister talking about her beautiful son vrave Bodhi and his leukemia diagnosis and treatment.”

Holly also shared a snapshot after the interview, writing: ‘@hjpeckham and Bodhi… so proud of you and your inspirational force… #pantstoleukemia… use the hashtag and wear your pants on your head and if you can donate on the donations page (in my story) to some of the amazing charities that work with children with cancer… thanks x

Explaining how the #PantsToLeukemia campaign started, Hannah previously told PA: “It was Bodhi’s fourth birthday on Thursday and he was admitted to hospital again on Friday, so we had to cancel his superhero birthday party on Sunday.” .

“I was updating the group and I took a photo of Bodhi, and like a typical four-year-old, he was wearing socks, a vest, and then had his pants on his head.

“The whole group responded in solidarity, with their photos, and nobody there really knows each other, so it was really nice.”