Strictly Come Dancing star Alex Kingston, 62, has revealed that she underwent treatment for womb cancer last year.
The shock diagnosis came after Alex experienced a haemorrhage while performing on stage at the Chichester Festival last summer. However, she said that her body was trying to send her warning signs before things came to a head – except she put the symptoms down to “old age”.
It’s the first time Alex has spoken about her cancer diagnosis, having previously only revealed that she had “quite complex health issues last year“.
Alex Kingston reveals cancer diagnosis
Speaking to The Independent, Alex said she’d been experiencing bloating and achiness for years. However, it wasn’t until she noticed blood in her urine that she sought medical help. However, she said that even then “I never went down the cancer road in my head”.
She said: “It was a shock, because I have a very positive outlook on life in general. Even though my body was telling me there was something very seriously wrong, I kept thinking, oh, I’ve got a bad UTI or fibroids.”
Alex said the “shocking” haemorrhage happened while she was on stage. And added that she was thankfully wearing a big Tudor dress with knee pads. As a result she was able to “knock her knees together and pray that it would soak everything up”.
After the six-week run on stage came to an end, Alex went home to her local hospital for tests, where she was handed her diagnosis.
Treatment
She said: “I had a major operation. I had to have a hysterectomy, I had to go into radiation therapy, and that took up a huge part of my life. Your body does try to warn you. It just depends on whether you can read the warning signs.”
Alex’s treatment only finished towards the end of last year, with the star admitting she was “lucky” the cancer was in her fallopian tubes but hadn’t spread to the ovaries.
“Despite having gone through all of that – and any cancer is really tough to accept, to steel yourself to go through all of the necessary procedures to get back into health – the minute I had the operation, I suddenly felt like myself again,” she said.
Alex added that womb cancer is “really tricky because it is so sneaky”. However, she told how people should listen to their bodies, as hers was telling her “there’s something really wrong”.
Signing up for Strictly
Having overcome cancer, Strictly came calling. And Alex said that she thought of the old cliché – life is too short. And it’s that which prompted her to say yes to the BBC show.
This weekend, Alex will dance a quickstep inspired by The Devil Wears Prada for Strictly’s Movie Week.
Read more: Inside Alex Kingston’s private life – three husbands, IVF and adoption heartache
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