Bowel cancer survivor and comedian Sarah Mills appeared on ITV's Lorraine on Tuesday morning to discuss her brand new show, Badass, which will debut at Edinburgh's Festival Fringe next month.
The disabled comedian, writer and content creator will be the first ever comedian at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to discuss their journey with bowel cancer. From finding blood in her stool, going through chemotherapy and being left with an invisible disability - a stoma - all whilst looking for love.
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Stand-in Lorraine host, Ranvir Singh, discussed Sarah living with a stoma bag, and her taking to Instagram and TikTok to raise awareness of bowel cancer through pictures and dances - reaching over 2.3 million people on TikTok recently. On the show on Tuesday morning, Ranvir said: "The extraordinary thing is that in 2018, during this time of extreme life changing news - you decided to change your career."
Sarah replied: "Yeah, I did. I'd always wanted to perform, and then weirdly it was having cancer that made me turn a corner. I was like, I'm gonna make content about this - and I'm gonna put myself out there. I'd always worked as a hobby as a stand-up comedian, but then I think when you end up with cancer in your lower intestine, all I could do was write jokes about it."
Detailing her battle with the disease, Sarah continued: "At the beginning of 2018, I felt like I was winning at life - the perfect pad, a glamorous job, and friends that made me feel like I was living in the British version of Sex and the City. I was on the hunt for a man, and instead of a handsome prince - I found blood in my poo.
“The next two years I swapped cocktail dresses for hospital gowns, the Lambrini for Laxatives and a stable income with debt collectors. Badass is my story, my experiences and my love note to the NHS - but it’s more than that.
“It’s about starting a conversation. My bum nearly killed me, and our bums and bowels kill people everyday. BADASS is a small part of a bigger movement - a bowel movement if you will - to help people spot the symptoms and get life-saving treatment early.”
Sarah Mills new show, Badass, will run at Edinburgh's Festival Fringe at the Pleasance Courtyard from Wednesday, August 3 to Thursday, August 25, with the exception of one date - Monday, August 15. For more information on the show, visit the Fringe website here.
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