Jean-Christophe Novelli’s baby son is free of cancer.
The celebrity chef’s eight-month-old child Valentino has spent most of his life fighting neuroblastoma cancer after he was diagnosed with the disease at just eight weeks old, but the family can finally breathe a sigh of relief as he has been given the all clear.
Speaking to HELLO! magazine, the 56-year-old star admitted seeing his youngest child going through such pain at such a young age made him re-evaluate his own life.
He explained: "His only communication was his sad expression and tears. If I could have swapped places with him, I would have done it like a shot. What was happening to our baby made me think about my life. I had everything I’d ever wanted: a family I love, a job I adore, my own cookery academy and a home in the best country in the world to me, the place of my childhood dreams.
"But suddenly, I was faced with the worst situation possible: my youngest child’s life was at stake. In my prayers I asked God, ‘What are you doing? What’s going to happen?’ But I didn’t get an answer for a long time."
Jean-Christophe and his fiancee Michelle Kennedy, 41, are now looking forward to a "fabulous summer" with their healthy baby boy – who finished his cancer treatment just before Christmas – and their other sons Jean, eight, and Jacques, four.
Michelle said: "He [Valentino] never smiled before – now he laughs all the time.
"When his two older brothers come home from school, the first thing they do is bomb upstairs to see him. His face lights up and he gets really excited when they rush in."
Neuroblastoma cancer is the third most common childhood cancer and forms in the nerve tissue of the adrenal gland, neck, chest, or spinal cord.
Jean-Christophe Novelli’s baby son is cancer free
