In March 2026, a 76-year-old grandmother picked up her phone, looked straight into the camera, and said the words no fan of Doubling Down With the Derricos ever expected to hear from her: “I’m not passed, I’m very much alive, I’m here!” Marian “GG” Derrico was answering fake death rumors spreading across Facebook — and in one short video, she reminded everyone why she is the heart of this family. She is Deon Derrico’s mother, grandmother to all 14 Derrico kids, and the one person nobody in this fandom argues about.
GG has been fighting lung cancer for more than a decade, mostly in public. Here is everything we actually know about her health, her family, and why Deon named her first when he talked about filming again — including the fake death rumors she shut down herself.
2014: The Diagnosis That Started an 11-Year Fight
GG was first diagnosed with lung cancer in 2014. She went through chemotherapy, and the disease went into remission. But the cancer came back: by 2022, her tumor had grown to the size of a baseball.
Chemotherapy helped shrink the tumor again. In a Season 4 checkup, GG’s doctor delivered the news everyone had been praying for: the tumor had shrunk to roughly a third of its original size. Deon later told Parade the chemo had been “rough” on her body — and GG herself said it plainly: “I love life, and I want to be here a lot longer.”
The Hospital Scares Fans Still Talk About
In June 2025, Deon posted a photo from an emergency room holding his mother’s hand: GG was dehydrated, with dangerously low potassium. Hours later, she filmed a short video from her hospital bed to thank fans and say her treatment was going well.
By then she had already told fans she was rethinking chemotherapy and looking into holistic options while keeping up her regular care. In August 2025, Karen Derrico set up a GoFundMe for her “mother-in-love,” aiming for $140,000 to cover the treatments and necessities GG’s insurance would not. Fans raised $4,000 in 24 hours and nearly $12,000 in two months, according to reports.
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In March 2026, fake “RIP GG” posts swept across Facebook. GG answered them herself, on camera: she confirmed she was 76 and alive, called the posts fraudulent, and asked fans to spread the word.
As of 2026, GG continues her cancer treatment in Las Vegas, close to the grandchildren who adore her, and the family has announced no new crisis. For a woman who has spent 11 years fighting this disease, no news is the best news her fans could ask for.
Why Deon Named GG First When He Talked About Filming Again
When Deon talked about filming again in May 2026, his words were: “GG, and I will be filming.” Karen’s name was not in the sentence. In October 2026, Deon told fans the cameras are already rolling for a new season, reportedly targeting 2027. No network, title, or date has been confirmed, and Deon’s promise that the cameras are rolling for 2027 still has to become a timeslot.
But one casting choice looks certain: GG, the family’s compass, the grandmother both sides of every comeback argument agree should be front and center. Her late nephew Amani Barkley’s encouragement, Deon has said, helped GG keep fighting when treatment got hardest. With 12 of the 14 kids now living with Deon, according to court papers, GG sits at the center of whatever the new season becomes.
Eleven years, one baseball-sized tumor, a GoFundMe, a hospital scare, and a death hoax she killed with a selfie video. That is the record. So here is the question the new season will have to answer: when the cameras roll again, should GG’s treatment journey be part of the story — or should the show protect her privacy and let her simply be Grandma?
