Former Emmerdale star Malandra Burrows, best known for her role as Kathy Glover on the ITV soap, has shared her heartbreak over being diagnosed with stage three breast cancer.
The actress was left devastated when she was told the news in February after finding a lump a month earlier.
After being checked by her GP, a follow-up scan and ultrasound confirmed that her cancer had progressed to stage three, and she had to have surgery to get it removed.
READ MORE: Former Emmerdale star joins Coronation Street
The 56-year-old star now faces a gruelling course of chemotherapy over the next six months, but won’t be given a prognosis until the treatment is complete.
We have taken a look back at the Emmerdale icon's time on the show following her devastating diagnosis.
Malandra portrayed Emmerdale's Kathy Glover between 1985 to 2001 and returning briefly in 2005, she became one of the programme's longest-running characters.
During her 16-year stint, Kathy was involved in some of the shows biggest storylines from being kidnapped by a diamond-thieving lord, knocked down by a horse-stealing conman, targeted by a double wife murderer who tried to drive her over a cliff, trapped in the wreckage of a bus hit by a lorry, and imprisoned for protesting against the local haulage company to name a few.
Kathy is remembered for being one of the most-often married characters in the soap and had a reputation for having "the kiss of death" on her men.
Malandra was reportedly one of the soap's highest-paid stars of the time on a reputed £80,000 pa, however, she paid the price of celebrity when a fanatical patient escaped from custody threatening to kill her, she had police protection for two months.
She was axed from the soap as part of ITV's revamp of the programme. Burrows returned for three episodes for Seth Armstrong's funeral in 2005.
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Later in 2009, Burrows was asked to return to Emmerdale for Jack Sugden's funeral episodes in February, but was unable due to working in pantomime during Christmas 2008 and January 2009, which prevented her from making a return.
Since leaving the Dales Burrows has appeared in several reality TV shows including Channel 5's The All Star Talent Show and more notably in 2006 she appeared in I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! alongside Matt Willis and Myleene Klass.
Now, Malandra has bravely spoken out about her diagnosis in hopes to spread awareness and encourage other women to get checked.
In an interview with OK! Magazine she said: "Since my diagnosis I tell all ladies to please go and get a mammogram.
“When I’ve told people they’ve said, ‘You’re fit and healthy, you can’t have cancer?’ and that was the big shock for me because I didn’t feel poorly.
“You may think you’re super healthy, but that little ‘C’ word can still get you.”
She also revealed that the lump was initially mistaken for a cyst, but despite the devastating news Malandra remains positive and says has “never cried about it”.
The actress, who also appeared in Brookside prior to her Emmerdale stint, vows to do everything she can to fight the disease, joking she "might even get some new boobs out of it."
Malandra was told that her breast cancer may have been caused by the menopause.
Official NHS guidance states that women who have experienced the menopause are more at risk of getting cancer due to an increase of oestrogen in the body.
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