In a blur of flame-red hair, fizzy enthusiasm and effusive apologies, Hannah Fry arrives a little late at Little Social, a modish restaurant just off London’s Regent Street. We had hit on the bistro to meet because it was close to the Liberty department store, where Fry was due to have her ears pierced. I ask her whether this has indeed happened. It has, but on an earlier visit. Then, she drops some shocking news.
“The actual truth of it is that I was really sick earlier this year, I had cancer,” she says. A routine smear test had flagged cervical cancer necessitating radical surgery and several weeks of recuperation. “It was very close to being very bad but I got really lucky. I got away with it,” she says.
After coming through such difficult times, Fry thought about all the things she would like to do with the rest of her life but hadn’t done, such as quitting her job or travelling the world. “Unfortunately, in the pandemic you’re limited for choice so I just thought I’d get my ears pierced,” she smiles.