Julia Bradbury is 'grateful' for breast cancer diagnosis: 'It might sound a weird thing to say...'

30 August 2023

Julia Bradbury' is "grateful" for her breast cancer diagnosis.

Julia Bradbury is grateful her her cancer diagnosis

The 53-year-old presenter admitted that finding a lump in her breast during a mammogram in June 2021 and then eventually undergoing a mastectomy as part of her treatment “revolutionised” her life as it made her “re-examine” her entire existence.

She told Prima magazine: “There’s no question that a cancer diagnosis changes your life. It doesn’t define you, but it shapes you. It certainly revolutionised my approach to health, life and death. It brought gratitude to the forefront of my mind, it made me overhaul every aspect of my lifestyle and it increased my love of mother nature. I also think it made me a kinder, more understanding, and more patient human being. It might sound like a weird thing to say, but I’m actually grateful for my diagnosis, because it made me re-examine my life.”

Julia - who has son Zephyr, 12, and twin daughters Xanthe and Zena, eight, with her husband Gerard Cunningham- is now in remission but was quick to point out that her life isn’t always “positive” and often has to “deal with” her sorrowful emotions.

She said: “That said, I don’t want people to think I’m always positive smiling and never down. I don’t think that’s possible. Life is hard, and you have to learn to ride the ups and downs. Resilience is important, but so is being in touch with your emotions. I have days where I feel quite emotionally raw about what I’ve been through. In those moments, I tell myself, ‘You have to deal with them.’ I’m going to be talking about cancer for the rest of my life because I hope to help others through my knowledge and experience, so I have to find a way to process my emotions.”

The ‘Countryfile’ star recently opened up about practical tips about how she stays content with life like journaling and meditation.

Julia told the June newspaper in June: “I have found that practising gratitude by journaling or meditation, really gets me to think about the good things in life and approach difficulties in a more positive way."