Ian 'Roscoe' Ross faces battle with pancreatic cancer

PRIVATE SYDNEY

The way Ian Ross sees it, the 73-year-old former king of television news couldn't feel any healthier, and given the circumstances, there is no denying his resilience.

But after going to see his GP for a sore foot and having routine blood tests in the weeks leading up to Christmas, Ross was delivered the sort of news we all dread: he has pancreatic cancer which has spread to his liver, and it's bad.

''But while I agree with the diagnosis, I do not necessarily agree with the prognosis … they told me I have five months left to live,'' an emotional but composed Ross told PS exclusively this week, choosing to make his diagnosis public in the hope he can ''get on with it'' in privacy.

''I have decided that the only way to handle this friggin' nightmare is to remain as positive about it as I possibly can and to get back to leading as 'normal' a life as possible. Right now I feel healthy and well, I have no symptoms … but I don't know how long that will last for.''

The media veteran, known by millions of television viewers as Roscoe, spoke with PS from his Gold Coast home, adding that he is far from alone as he embarks on what is literally a fight for life: ''I have a lot of love and support around me from family and friends.''

Much of that love and support is from his three adult children and eight grand children, his ex-wife, with whom he remains good friends, as well as his partner of 22 years, Gray Bolte, who Ross described as a ''very private man'' with whom he has loved and shared his life since they met in their 50s.

''We really are the best of mates and always have been, we have rarely had an argument and we share common goals … we move in the same direction and enjoy a good laugh,'' he said.

About 2500 Australians are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year, which according to the Cancer Council is the 12th most common cancer in men and ninth most common cancer in women.

''I'm still training at the gym, going for walks and doing the things I love to do, like meditating, which I have found very helpful. Ostensibly nothing has changed in my life … but we did take an emotional battering when we received the news, but we are dealing with it really well … we being my partner Gray and family,'' Ross said, stressing that he was not in ''denial'' about his illness.

''I know it is very, very difficult to treat and it is terminal … but I refuse to believe that I only have five months left. I have decided not to have treatment as chemotherapy might only give me a few more months, and only then if it was successful. I don't want to spend whatever time I have left lying in a bed going through chemo, I'd rather take an earlier exit if I have to … the key to this is taking it one day at a time and we are looking at alternative therapies.''

Ross admits he and Bolte share a great ''faith in miracles'', but adds somewhat sagely that ''I'm a very practical person and I keep one foot on the ground in almost all situations, but I just believe if you stay strong and stay positive you are giving yourself a much better chance''.

Ross retired from his position as news reader at Channel Seven in 2009, bringing to an end a 50-year career in the media, after being poached from rival Channel Nine.

He was credited with helping make the Seven bulletin the No.1 rating news service during his tenure, after spending years playing second fiddle to the once indomitable Nine.

To this day he remains one of the most respected, popular and successful news readers in Australian television history, though as PS discovered this week, his humility would never allow him to gloat about it.

Credits roll for Wake Up's Adam Boland

Adam Boland generously offered his reasons for resigning as Channel Ten's morning television director this week, which apparently had nothing to do with dismal ratings, or the fact Thomas the Tank Engine had 178,000 viewers last week while Boland's Wake Up had 34,000.

Boland, who did not return PS's calls, was personally courted by Ten shareholder and director Lachlan Murdoch to join Ten. He told his Facebook friends: ''I have achieved far more than I ever expected. I've met people I adore, from Al Gore to Benjamin Law. I've dined with Prime Ministers and argued with newspaper editors. I even got to produce a prime-time concert at the Opera House! But I'm most proud of the times we shed light on issues I care about - climate change, equality and most recently, mental health. There's nothing more I want to do in television.''

Bravo Boland, though PS hastens to add, his contract was up for renewal in March anyway.

But the irony of it all is that his replacement, breakfast television veteran Steve Wood, lost his job over at Nine a decade ago because of Boland.

Wood was the former executive producer of Channel Nine's Today - for 12 years - during the time Boland was being praised as TV's ''wunderkind'' for the triumphant ratings performance of Channel Seven's Sunrise, which eventually cost Wood his gig and created the impression - propelled by Seven and relished by Boland - that he had ''revolutionised'' breakfast television. Murdoch had hoped he could do it all over again at Ten.

Boland's boyfriend, Kenny Ang, also took PS to task this week after I described him as a ''junior producer'' on Boland's show Wake Up. Apparently Kenny was much, much more than that, tweeting: ''BTW I was a social media/segment producer on Wake Up … I get the insinuation.''

Thanks for clearing that up Kenny, enjoy Vanuatu!

Giorgio dress-ups for Ginia

When you are the favoured heiress to one of the world's great multi-billion-dollar fortunes the world is truly your oyster, as Ginia Rinehart has quickly discovered.

With a penchant for high-end fashion, Ginia wore the ultimate designer accessory in Paris this week: Giorgio Armani himself.

The Italian fashion icon wrapped the heiress tightly in his arms as he welcomed his VIP customer to Paris to see the Armani Prive collection, showcasing the most expensive, hand-crafted garments the Italian designer makes, as part of the haute couture shows.

Ginia is still in the market for a wedding gown for her on-again wedding to Ryan Johnston, son of Beach Boy Bruce Johnston.

PS hears she has been scouring Paris' finest ateliers in search for the perfect wedding dress, with the nuptials still expected to take place, most likely in Italy (perhaps at one of Giorgio's fabulous villas?), in the not too distant future.

And judging by the photo perhaps Giorgio will be doing the dress too?

However the heiress, who remains embroiled in an ugly squabble with her siblings over the multi-billion dollar family trust, has managed to keep shtum on the wedding details, even after it emerged the couple had called off their engagement last year, only to reunite on the red carpet in Sydney just months later.

Kick off the social scene

Looking every inch the thoroughbred of the catwalk she is, Jessica Gomes jetted into Sydney on Friday morning to prepare for David Jones' autumn-winter fashion extravaganza next week. The night is shaping up to be one of THE parties to kick off the 2014 social whirl, with the likes of Bridget andFrancesAbbott, new mum Terri Biviano, mum-to-be Megan Gale, The Great Gatsby star Elizabeth Debicki, Rachel Griffiths, Jessica Marais, Isabelle Cornish and Alex Russell (set to star in Angelina Jolie's new film) all due in the front row.

Love Boat 2.0

Note to Mia Freedman - you might want to look away.

Sunrise co-host Samantha Armytage has swapped her ''stripper heels'' for a clipboard and fried - I mean blow-waved - hair, but don't panic, it's not permanent. On Monday Sunrise will be broadcast from a cruise liner, and to mark the event the show's crew has filmed their own homage to the characters of that jewel of television programming, The Love Boat. And yes, Samantha is taking on the role of cruise director Julie McCoy, though PS can't help but think there is a distinct similarity to Vicki Stubing, daughter of Captain Merrill Stubing, who is being played by the equally hirsute David Koch.

It's Kylie v Delta

On Monday Kylie Minogue will release her latest single, Into the Blue. However the song has been compared widely to Delta Goodrem's Sitting On Top of the World, both songs sharing an eerily similar chorus, somewhat ironic given that Minogue is replacing Goodrem as judge on Channel Nine's The Voice. Go online and watch this week's PS video to judge for yourself.