Shirley Ballas has heaped praise onto King Charles and Catherine, Princess of Wales for announcing their cancer battles.
Shirley Ballas has heaped praise onto King Charles and Catherine, Princess of Wales for announcing their cancer battles
The ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ judge, 63, revealed yesterday (28.04.24) that she is currently waiting for the results of three biopsies taken from her left breast after a lumpy tissue was discovered, and has now applauded the royals after they went public with their cancer news.
Speaking to The Sun newspaper, she said: “I think it was very brave of Charles and Kate to come out and share their stories.
“Lovely Kate, sat on that little park bench in a little striped jumper. It’s a memory I will have for a long time, and I think it’s great for women.
“And King Charles, when he came out and shared his diagnosis. They are inspiring and will encourage others to get their health checked.”
The Princess of Wales revealed towards the end of March that she was undergoing “preventative” chemotherapy for cancer, and her father-inlaw King Charles began treatment for an undisclosed form of the disease in February.
After revealing her own cancer scare, the professional dancer admitted she feels “very emotional” as she awaits the results of her tests.
She previously said: “I feel very emotional. Every time the phone rings I think, ‘Oh, maybe they are my results’.”
Shirley also praised her fellow ‘Strictly’ star Amy Dowden - who also battled stage three breast cancer - for inspiring her to get a mammogram, and recalled finding out a lump had been discovered in her left breast.
She said: “My dear student and friend Amy said to me, ‘You must never miss a mammogram’, so when this particular invite came in I could have put it off until the summer when it is a bit quieter. But I’m glad I didn’t.
“I did it at a mobile NHS unit in a Sainsbury’s car park, and three days later they called me back to go into King’s College Hospital in Camberwell.
“I was shocked as I do self checks, and I’d had a self check with another nurse a few weeks before for something else and she didn’t feel anything. But the mammogram scanners can pick up small abnormalities.
“So I went to the hospital and the doctor said, ‘I don’t want to alarm you but we found something and we’re not sure what it is. We need to do a 3D mammogram, which is a more advanced machine.’
“After that they still weren’t happy after finding lumpy tissue and asked me to come back and do a biopsy. But I asked to do it straightaway because a woman’s mind can work overtime.”
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