Julia Bradbury had to hide her breast cancer diagnosis from her ITV colleagues at the National Television Awards last year.
Countryfile star Julia, 52, was diagnosed with breast cancer in September 2021 and underwent a mastectomy a month later. She opened up about her diagnosis and how it affected her in her candid documentary Julia Bradbury: Breast Cancer and Me.
She will return to the NTAs tonight as she has made the shortlist in the Authored Documentary category, but she admits this year will be very different for her as last year, she was forced to hide her diagnosis from her colleagues. Julia had received the diagnosis from the doctors but was unable to tell her friends because she hadn't yet told her children.
Speaking to hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby on This Morning today, Julia said: "This is me last year at the NTAs and a lot of us were in the same place and hanging around in the corridors. All of the celebrations were going on when the wonderful Kate won.
"And then everybody started talking about Kate's documentary and everyone was saying, 'oh gosh we never really know what's going on, you never know what's happening at home, you never know what people are dealing with."
She added: "And then Ben Shephard turned to me and said Bradders why aren't you drinking. Are you going to have a glass of champagne or some vodka. And I couldn't say anything because I hadn't told my children yet."
Julia admitted she wanted to tell Ben "more than anything" but she couldn't.
"It was a very strange night, being surrounded by all that and having to hold it all in," she admitted. Julia also explained how she has now cut down alcohol after her diagnosis. In her surgery, she had a 6cm tumour, two lymph glands and her left breast removed.
She told woman and home of her decision to cut down alcohol: "Historically, I haven’t been kind to my body or my gut.
"I had a reputation for drinking everybody else under the table. Right now, I don’t feel comfortable drinking alcohol because if I drink one unit of alcohol a day, my risk of recurrence is between 5% and 6% across my lifetime. With four units a day, it goes up to 28%."
Julia explained how her "whole mantra" has changed since her diagnosis, adding: "My whole mantra for life has become 'be grateful for what you do have, not what you don’t have'. I have a breast, I have my nipple, but I don’t have sensation and because I’m naturally slim, I have what I call the mozzarella-cheese effect around – as my friend Ben Shephard and I call it, my pneumatic boob."
