EastEnders star Sam Womack has opened up on her "brutal" chemotherapy journey amid her breast cancer battle and found she says she's found a new mantra to live by after being given the all-clear to "never say never."
The 50-year-old actress, best known for her role in the popular soap as Ronnie Mitchell until 2017, spoke of how her "whirlwind" treatment including a lumpectomy and chemotherapy following her cancer diagnosis last year left her reeling.
But the ex-BBC soap star has said she has since found a new zest for living again, revealing that the second bash at a healthy life has prompted her to feel broody again as she opened up on wanting more kids with her Corrie beau.
Sam currently has two kids, Lili, 18, and Ben, 22, to her previous husband Mark Womack who she separated from in 2020. She had ongoing support from her partner Oliver Farnworth, who played Andy Carver on Coronation Street, who stuck by her side.
And now the couple reportedly is keen on expanding their family together according to reports in OK!, following Sam's turbulent few months of twists and turns that her cancer diagnosis left them with.
“I suddenly really appreciated my kids,” she says thoughtfully. “I really wanted to do it all again," although at the age of 50 and after chemo, Sam knows it may not be quite so simple.
She added: “Obviously throughout treatment, your ovaries are challenged because chemo can change your hormonal status, so I don’t even know if it would be possible now, post-treatment. And it sounds incredibly greedy because I’ve done it.”
Sam also shares stepson Michael from her previous marriage to Mark Womack, but her near brush with death has made her more determined to get the most out of life.
“Lili’s 18,” she adds. “But I just suddenly had this real yearning. It was like another little switch.
"Ollie and I talked about it and said, well, never say never. If it’s not possible naturally, there are other ways. I just want to celebrate life.”
It comes as the 50-year-old soap star went public with her health battle last August after a routine check-up found a shadowy mass on her right breast.
But following her gruelling treatment, Sam is now keen to resume her life as normally as she can with her new partner Oliver, who she has now been with for three years.
Sam first met Oliver when they both starred in a 2018 stage adaptation of Paula Hawkins’ novel The Girl On The Train, but it wasn’t until shortly before lockdown that their romance blossomed.
Despite the pair having a 10-year age gap, with 40-year-old Oliver being 10 years her junior, it hasn’t changed anything, nor did the cancer diagnosis.
“He’s been incredibly supportive,” says Sam. “It’s a lot for a partner, you forget the disease takes over their life as well.
“We hadn’t been together long before the pandemic, and then cancer came – it was a lot for him to take.” Oliver kept Sam’s spirits up while she was receiving chemotherapy by wearing her cool cap – a device to limit hair loss caused by the cancer-fighting drugs – and taking pictures of them mucking around.
“It was really important for me, for the first time, to relinquish control in front of a partner,” she says. “I’ve never let my guard down in the way that I did.
“I’ve never been used to asking for help, I was always fight or flight. I was terrified that if I was vulnerable, it would be seen as weak.”
Sam also spoke of how supportive Oliver has been in helping her come to terms with her changing body following her cancer treatment.
Two weeks after the lunch break Well Woman check that caught her tumour, Sam had a lumpectomy and lymph node removal to take out the mass, then had chemotherapy and radiotherapy to eradicate any floating cancer cells.
“Your breasts are where life comes from, how you feed your children, but they’re also to do with your sexual identity,” she points out.
“When that’s attacked, it’s not just the disease, it takes all of that away from you temporarily.”
Sam and ex-husband Mark are still close, and even lived together – with the kids and Oliver - during the Covid lockdown.
“We had three teenagers, four dogs, a cat, two ponies...” she reels off on her fingers. “My ex and his family. Ollie’s family came to stay.
“We had quite a big dilapidated house you could compartmentalise into loads of different spaces, so while it was scary, it was also lovely having this precious group around.”
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