Holly Willoughby’s £1,495 full-body MRI post prompts debate over access to private health screening

Holly Willoughby has drawn online critique after sharing a post about a private multi-organ MRI scan that cost £1,495 and was gifted by the provider. The London-based television presenter, 44, said the scan checks for cancer and more than 500 other conditions, describing early detection as life-saving. The post, labeled as a paid advertisement, prompted questions from followers about who can access such screening and at what cost. Willoughby has since turned off comments on the post.

The sponsor, Ezra, promotes an AI-powered 13-organ full-body MRI that can identify cancers and other diseases at early stages. Ezra’s U.K. rollout positions the service as a proactive health option in a market already saturated with celebrity endorsements of private screening. The test runs about an hour and includes an option to add a lung CT scan and heart-disease screening. A standard 13-organ full-body scan is priced at £2,395, with the lungs-and-heart “plus” option costing an additional £300. While the company argues early detection improves outcomes, critics note the price point makes such screening inaccessible for most people.

Celebrity interest in full-body checks has grown in recent years. Kim Kardashian, Cindy Crawford and other public figures have publicly documented similar scans, fueling a broader conversation about who can afford preventative health services. Kardashian’s posts about a Prenuvo scan were described by some commenters as life-saving, but many users argued that the tests remain out of reach for the average consumer. Critics have pointed to the affordability gap and questioned whether such screenings should be marketed as routine options for healthy individuals.

Medical experts have sounded a cautious note about routine, broad full-body scans for people with no symptoms. While proponents argue that AI-assisted imaging can detect cancers and other conditions earlier, clinicians caution that false positives, incidental findings and anxiety can accompany screening results. Most guidance from health professionals emphasizes that such scans are more appropriate for high-risk groups or symptom-driven evaluation, rather than as a universal preventive measure for the general population. Critics also say that expanding access to preventive care requires systemic changes to insurance coverage, pricing, and availability of accredited screening services.

The ongoing discourse around Willoughby’s post reflects a larger debate in health care: the promise of early detection versus the reality of cost and equity. As private screening technologies evolve and marketing efforts intensify, health experts say policy frameworks and clinical guidelines should guide who gets access to such services, how they are funded, and how results are communicated to avoid unnecessary harm or confusion. For now, Willoughby’s post sits at the intersection of celebrity influence, patient autonomy, and the practical limits of private preventive care, illustrating how advances in imaging intersect with everyday questions about affordability and access to health.