‘Damn hard’ cancer treatmentCelebrity chef Johann Lafer can no longer eat properly
July 17, 2026, 3:15 pm
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Celebrity chef Johann Lafer kept his cancer diagnosis a secret for a long time. Now he talks openly about it, including the side effects of chemotherapy. His physical constitution isn’t even the worst part.
No doctor would dare predict how much time he had left. Celebrity chef Johann Lafer is terminally ill with cancer. Two and a half years ago he was diagnosed with cancer of the lymphatic system. His cancer “exploded like an atomic bomb,” he told the Münchner Merkur newspaper. He has metastases throughout his body.
At first he wanted to keep his illness a secret: “It’s so cruel. At first you don’t want to admit it.” But his significant weight loss and hair loss as a side effect of chemotherapy led to speculation. He went public with his cancer diagnosis in May. “I canceled my subscription so many times with stupid excuses. You’re lying. (…) And then I said to myself: man, Meyer, at some point all this will fall at your feet. Deal with it honestly,” Lafer explains on the Rolling Pin Talks podcast about why he decided to go public.
Now he’s relieved about it, as he tells podcast host Ursula Maher: “It’s freed me up because now I just accept it and I don’t always have to play hide and seek.” He hopes his honesty will perhaps inspire others living with cancer. “If Lafer can do it, then I can do it,” is the message he wants to send.
On the podcast, Lafer, who has also made a name for himself on television with cooking shows like “Lafer! Lichter! Delicious!”, “Die Küchenschlacht” or “Die Kocharena”, also talks about the serious side effects of his chemotherapy. The worst thing for him is not so much his poor physical build: “I have no taste, I can’t eat anything and my fingers are open.” It’s “bloody hard” trying to eat through a straw or telling someone, “Can you puree this for me or I won’t be able to eat it?” He wouldn’t wish this experience on anyone – whether they cook themselves or not.
“Nothing can be put off”
At the end of June, Johann Lafer contacted his followers on Instagram and announced his health. In it, he wrote that he was “on a good path to recovery”: “My treating professors are very positive about the progress of treatment.”
Lafer learned a lesson from his illness, as he explained to Merkur: “You shouldn’t put anything off.” That’s why he sticks to his dreams – like traveling to the Himalayas. His family, his wife and two children, doctors and close friends give him strength.