Sarah Beeny has revealed that she has been diagnosed with breast cancer.
The TV presenter, 50, said that she was diagnosed three weeks ago after finding a lump in her breast. While an initial mammogram didn’t show any signs of the disease, a biopsy confirmed it was cancer.
Speaking to the Telegraph, Beeny revealed she began chemotherapy on Friday (26 August) and that she “knew” she was going to be diagnosed with cancer one day.
“The nurse was so sweet and they were really nice to me but I thought, ‘You don’t understand. I have waited 40 years to hear those words.’ I knew I was going to hear it one day,” Beeny explained.
Beeny’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer when Beeny was a child. It spread to her brain and she died when Beeny was just 10 years old.
“When someone dies when you’re young, you don’t really understand the impact completely, but there are holes later on. You think, ‘Oh, that’s where my mum would be,’ like when you have a child,” she explained.
“The fear makes you pack a lot in. My husband always says I’m so impatient in life and I think I’m impatient because it might run out; you might not have any more time. So I guess that’s how it’s impacted me a lot.”
Beeny, who has appeared in shows such as Property Ladder and Sarah Beeny’s New Life in the Country, will have a mastectomy in 2023, followed by radiation.
To prepare for chemotherapy, Beeny revealed that her husband, Graham Swift, along with their four sons, Billy, 18, Charlie, 16, Rafferty, 14, and Laurie, 12, cut off her long blonde hair.
“To be honest, I wouldn’t recommend getting four teenage boys to cut off your hair,” Beeny told the publication.
“Graham was trying to cut it nicely, but the boys – well, they’re not going to be famous hairdressers. They said I looked like Cersei Lannister from Game of Thrones – I mean, she’s beautiful so I was sort of flattered, but my hair is now in some places about a centimetre long and in some places it’s an inch long.”
Beeny is currently awaiting a test to see if the disease is hereditary as her grandmother also had breast cancer. She also urged women to check their breasts regularly and to “trust their instincts”.
“Go for the mammogram. And always go for a second check-up if you can still feel a lump. Keep on going until you get a biopsy. Be vigilant.”
