TV star diagnosed with cancer - Herald on Sunday article about Andy's cancer and Lucy.

Herald on Sunday - 14 March 2010

TV star diagnosed with cancer

BRITISH ACTOR Andy Whitfield, 35, who plays the lead in raunchy TV series Spartacus: Blood and Sand is undergoing chemotherapy for non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Production has been delayed on the second series which was due to start filming in Auckland from April 26.

Extras casting director Rebecca Rowe sent an email on Wednesday to talent agencies informing them production had Stopped "due to unforeseen circumstances". Rowe said there was a possibility the series will resume later in the year.

Whitfield said: "I'm receiving excellent care, and am feeling strong, positive and determined with an army of support behind me".

Meanwhile, Lucy Lawless told Venice magazine last month she's not sure she will he in the second series. "We're in talks tor me to be in the second season - because I wasn't supposed to be. It could all fall apart. I might not be in it; I don't know!"

You would think hobby Rob Tapert would have some inside juice. He's the executive producer on the show. But Lawless said the power couple keep their marriage and career separate.

"I'm not dealing with [Rob]. My deal is never made with him."
Lawless credits moving home for her happiness. "Life got 800 per cent better, at least, when I moved hack to New Zealand... So I went home, and my husband and I are under one roof, my parents live nearby, and all my girlfriends from grade-school. There are a few people I miss here, but in every other way life's just much better. I've got dogs, and chickens coming. And we live right in the city!"