Julia Bradbury has admitted that guiding her three children through her breast cancer diagnosis and mastectomy was one of the toughest moments in her battle.
The star, who is married to property developer Gerard Cunningham, announced her cancer diagnosis in September 2021.
She soon underwent surgery to remove a 6cm tumour, two lymph glands and her left breast before having reconstruction surgery a month later.
Two years on, the 53-year-old admitted her need to “stay alive” to watch her three kids, son Zephyr, 12, and her twin girls, Xanthe and Zena, eight, grow up has helped her through her cancer battle.
She told The Times: “When I had that first biopsy, I was like, ‘I want to see my children grow up. I want to live through GCSEs and A-levels and 21st birthdays and university. I want to see them as adults. I just want to stay alive.’”
The Countryfile presenter also revealed that she didn’t want to video call her children while in hospital after undergoing her mastectomy as she “didn’t want them to see me like that. I thought it would be worrying for them.”
She reflected: “What’s difficult with young children is explaining cancer to them without petrifying them. I was very aware that I had to be honest.”
Bradbury then explained how she enlisted her sister’s help to do her hair and makeup the day she returned home from hospital post surgery, to help reassure her children that she was OK.
In light of her health struggles over the past two years, she explained that one of her daughters recently asked her if her cancer will come back.
Getting upset recalling the exchange, the TV star admitted: “That was really hard. Cancer has shaped who I am, but it doesn’t define who I am. It profoundly changed my life and the way I think and behave.”
Earlier this year, the BBC presenter revealed that her diagnosis has made her evaluate what’s important in her life, and now she sees things “differently”.
Speaking to The Sun, she said: “I’m grateful for every single day and I do look at life differently, certainly. Obviously when something like a cancer diagnosis comes your way, your whole world becomes about that, how you are going to handle it and the impact on your family, friends and loved ones.
“You don’t think too far into the future [but] about getting through things, day by day.
“I decided very early on that I was going to try and maintain a very positive mindset, and that I would approach it a bit like a TV project, which was to learn everything.”
