George Alagiah returned to the BBC’s News At Six on Thursday, April 14 after “months of treatment”.

It was in October last year that the 66-year-old newsreader announced he would be taking a break from presenting.

He was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2014 and his agent said at the time that he was dealing with a further spread of the disease.

On Thursday afternoon, Alagiah tweeted: “I’ll be back in the @BBCNews studio today after months of treatment.

“Pure coincidence – it’s 8 years to the day since I was told I had stage 4 #bowelcancer.

“So good to be with the News at Six team again.”

Incoming BBC News political editor Chris Mason was among those welcoming his return.

He tweeted: “Welcome back @BBCAlagiah!”

Former BBC News science editor David Shukman added: “Really delighted that the wonderful @BBCAlagiah is returning to our screens tonight. George, very best wishes.”

Sri Lanka-born Alagiah underwent 17 rounds of chemotherapy to treat his advanced bowel cancer in 2014.

He returned to presenting duties in 2015 after making progress against the disease, and said he was a “richer person” for it.

His cancer returned in December 2017 and the presenter underwent further treatment before again returning to work.

In 2020, he tested positive for coronavirus after deciding to stop appearing in the studio during the outbreak following advice from doctors and colleagues.