Loose Women panellist Brenda Edwards has recalled how ‘rough’ it was battling breast cancer and revealed she still has side effects even now.
The former X Factor star, 55, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 when she was just 46 and was Motormouth Maybelle in Hairspray The Musical at the time.
She has now told how she ‘went completely blank’ when the doctor gave her diagnosis and had to record her so she would remember what she had said.
Brenda – who is now cancer-free added that it was traumatic telling family and friends the scary news but that she ‘had to be strong’.
She told The Sun: ‘When I was told I had cancer I went into a blank, and so when I went to see my oncologist, I took a phone with me and I recorded everything and I’m so glad I did, because I had so many questions later on.
Loose Women panellist Brenda Edwards has recalled how ‘rough’ it was battling breast cancer and revealed she still has side effects even now
The former X Factor star, 55, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 when she was just 46 and was Motormouth Maybelle in Hairspray The Musical at the time.
‘I needed to be strong for me though, and yes there was always down days, every day I’d wake up and be like, ‘well, the cancer is still there.’
‘It was very hard when I was telling my family and my friends about it when I was diagnosed. But it’s rough, and it’s rough for different people who are affected by it, and I still have side effects from it today.’
The star, who was in her mid forties at the time of her diagnosis, added that one side effect was going into early menopause which still impacts her now.
In 2021 Brenda revealed she once broke down on stage during a production of Hairspray after learning she had Stage Three breast cancer.
She spoke about the heartbreaking moment her co-stars all began to cry while singing ‘I Know Where I’ve Been’ one night.
Appearing as a guest on Martin and Roman’s Weekend Best, Brenda explained why that particular song is so ‘poignant’ for her.
‘When I was doing the show in 2016 that’s when I was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer and I did the show and I sang that song,’ she said.
‘It’s like “There’s a road we’ve been travelling, lost so many on the way” and those words came up and the cast all started crying.
‘Tracy Turnblade, she was holding my hands with tears and I was like: “Babe I can’t sing and cry, you need to stop this, please stop it”.
She has now told how she ‘went completely blank’ when the doctor gave her diagnosis and had to record her so she would remember what she had said
In 2021 Brenda revealed she once broke down on stage during a production of Hairspray after learning she had Stage Three breast cancer
‘The key change, there was no singing whatsoever because I was just in tears, the first four five rows they’re in tears and I’m sure they were like “wow this is really good acting” because nobody knew, I hadn’t said anything about it.’
The crowd, who at the time were not aware of her diagnosis, gave her a standing ovation.
Earlier this week Brenda revealed exclusively to MailOnline how she and her fellow Loose Women panellists lean on each other after so many of them have been affected by cancer.
She was diagnosed with the breast cancer in 2015, while Coleen Nolan recently revealed she checks herself for signs of the disease everyday after the tragic effect it has had on her family.
She told MailOnline: ‘So many people have been effect on the Loose Women panel, including Carol McGiffin, myself, and Coleen at the moment,’
Ex panellist Carol McGiffin, 64, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014 and had a mastectomy that year.
Brenda said: ‘It’s very important to keep talking, no matter how small you think something is, go check it out with your doctor’.
When asked how the women go about supporting each other she said: ‘I’m friends with them, it’s not just on the panel, we are friends outside the show,’
‘There’s a Loose women Whatsapp group and we are all on there and thats the time where can say if someone is feeling low and you can be sure someone will come along to raise their spirits up’.
Adding: ‘It’s nice to have that support network but I realise not everyone necessarily has that’.
‘Everyone has a different way of dealing with cancer, but one in two people are effected by it, wether they have had it or know someone who has, and that’s a really high static to prove we really need to raise awareness’.
Brenda found a lump under her right breast at the end of 2015 and began six months of chemotherapy before having a mastectomy and breast reconstruction.
She spoke to MailOnline as part of the new GenesisCare Second Chance campaign which aims to raise awareness of where in the body secondary cancer is most likely to strike and the symptoms to look out for.
Secondary breast cancer, also known as metastatic breast cancer, is when tumour cells which started in the breast move to other parts of the body.
Brenda – who is now cancer-free added that it was traumatic telling family and friends the scary news but that she ‘had to be strong’
Speaking about her own battle with the disease Brenda said: ‘Some things are out of your control, cancer is definitely one of them, but for me it was trying to be as positive as possible’.
‘72% of breast cancer survivors are unaware of what areas of your body can be effected by secondary breast cancer to know what to look for’.
Adding: ‘The most likely areas to effected by breast cancer are your head, your brain, your lungs, your skin, your liver’.
Brenda Edwards is fronting the new GenesisCare Second Chance campaign which aims to raise awareness of where in the body secondary cancer is most likely to strike and the symptoms to look out for. Visit www.genesiscare.com/uk/second-chance for more information.