“I am sick. Seriously sick. I have lymph node cancer.” Johann Lafer, the 68-year-old Austrian-born television chef, said it that bluntly in an interview with the German newspaper Bild, ending more than two years of near silence about his health.
The diagnosis is an indolent, low-malignancy, non-aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma. A doctor first spotted shadows in his groin about two and a half years ago, during a routine check-up while Lafer was on a fasting cure. He felt no pain at the time.
Things changed in January 2026. “Suddenly everything was swollen. The night sweats. I could barely sleep. That’s when I realized: something is going completely in the wrong direction,” he said. Doctors found numerous lymph nodes throughout his body were affected. He began an intensive 24-hour chemotherapy regimen that month.
Four cycles in
He has now finished four cycles, with more planned. Before chemotherapy, according to Particle’s account of his statements, he had gone through monitoring, surgery to remove several lymph nodes, and a spell of dietary and complementary approaches.
Recent CT scans brought what Lafer called “good news.” “You can see that the nodes are getting smaller. That the treatment is taking effect. And that gives me strength,” he said. He and his medical team both report that the affected nodes are shrinking.
The cost has been heavy. Lafer has lost 25 kilograms and his hair, and his immune system is weakened. For a time he lost his sense of taste too, which he described as losing his “core competency.” He has stepped back from many public commitments to rest.
A secret kept at home
For a long time only his wife, Silvia, knew. The couple chose not to tell their children, Jennifer, 31, and Jonathan, 25, until roughly two months before he went public. “We wanted to keep it a secret for as long as possible,” Lafer said. “They came immediately. They were incredibly strong. Very helpful.”
Prayer matters to him, he said, and he draws on his Catholic faith. The illness has shifted his priorities toward travel and enjoying life more deliberately. Small gestures from fans give him courage.
Lafer shared the news on Instagram as well, and prominent colleagues and celebrities responded with messages of shock and wishes for his recovery. Under the circumstances, he said, he is doing well, and he is glad to keep working and attend many planned appearances.
Viewers of ZDF’s “Fernsehgarten” had already noticed something different. He turned up on the show without his signature mustache, wearing a bandana, and the change set off plenty of discussion online before he said anything about his health.
Sources
- Particle: Johann Lafer Reveals He Is Being Treated for NonâHodgkin Lymphoma
- Johann Lafer reveals cancer diagnosis, undergoing chemotherapy since January
