Trisha Goddard continued working through her cancer treatment, despite her veins collapsing.

Trisha Goddard

Trisha Goddard

The 63-year-old star was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008 and suffered a "nasty" reaction to radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

Speaking on ITV's 'Piers Morgan's Life Stories', she said: "I found out with a laugh and a cry at the same time because I remember the guy doing an ultrasound and I said to him, 'So have I got cancer yes or no?'

"He said, 'I'll send the results to your surgeon'. And I said, 'Tell me now'. And he said, 'No, I'll send the results to your surgeon'. And I said, 'How long have you been doing this for?' He said, 'Nineteen years.'

"I said, 'So you know breast cancer when you see it.' He said, 'Yes'. I said, 'Right, I promise you I won't sue you, but tell me now, do I have breast cancer? Tell me now, here'.

"And he said yes and I went [whimpers]. I had two operations, seven/ eight months of chemotherapy, basically a year of radiotherapy."

Piers noted how Trisha's veins collapsed, she lost her nails and suffered ulcers during her "brutal experience".

The talk show host replied: "Yeah. Apparently I really reacted badly. I had [an] ulcerated nose. Mouth."

However, she still kept working, and explained: "Listen, that show had my name on the back. I remember ringing up my business partner, the gorgeous, amazing Malcolm Allsop. 'Malcolm, I’m really sorry. I've got breast cancer.' "

Trisha also opened up on the racist abuse she suffered during her childhood, including bullying at primary school and one horrific moment involving a teacher after she was targeted in the canteen.

She said: "I must have been nine or 10, crying and crying. And I can see this teacher now, blond hair, goofy teeth.

"He sat down next to me and he said, 'You've got to understand, you've got to toughen up. We people in this country, we don't want people like you here. So if you're going to stay here, you're going to have to toughen up.'

"When I was nine years old and my teacher, who watched me get hit, was telling me this was my life. I thought I'd failed. I thought I wasn't being English enough."

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