Former BBC Breakfast host Sian Williams reveals secret breast cancer fight
FORMER BBC Breakfast presenter Sian Williams has revealed she has had secret double mastectomy following a secret battle with breast cancer.
Sian Williams has revealed secret breast cancer fight
The 51-year-old has opened up about the shock diagnosis and admitted she and her husband Paul Woolwich never expected she would get it.
Speaking candidly, she told Woman & Home: "The week after my 50th birthday I was diagnosed with breast cancer.
"I thought I was healthy. I did all the right things - I was a green tea drinker, a salmon eater, a runner.
"So being told I had cancer seemed so improbable that when I went for the results of a biopsy, following a mammogram, I don't even ask Paul to come because I just assumed it was routine."
Sian has had secret double mastectomy
Sian previously presented BBC Breakfast before moving to Five News
BBC News - Reginald D Hunter makes Sian Williams cry with laughter
Being told I had cancer seemed so improbable
Sian, who now presents Five News, revealed her biggest fear upon hearing the diagnosis was that she wouldn't be there for her children.
She said she was scared of "not being there as a mum - and for some unfathomable reason I couldn't stop thinking that I want to be here for my daughter Evie to watch her get married".
The journalist added: "My aunt died of breast cancer, and I'd lost my mum to liver and bowel cancer - and I gradually began to realise how bewildered and scared I was."
Sian admitted that while she attempted to keep her battle with cancer a secret, she struggled to discuss her feelings with her husband.
She said her biggest fear was
Sian said she never expected she would get cancer
"I was horrible to Paul at times because I was so intent on being strong that I didn't feel I could share my fears with him," she told the publication.
"He never knew if I was 'strong capable Sian' or if I needed help, which was very confusing for him. And we had some really explosive moments and furious rows as a result.
"Paul is an extraordinary man. I've learned I need to let him know if I need support, or an outstretched hand to help me up."
She commented: "I discovered there's a strength in letting myself be vulnerable. I allowed myself to say, 'Today I feel less like a TV presenter and more like a cancer patient - and that's OK'."