Former EastEnders star Samantha Womack has spoken out about her breast cancer battle.
The actress, 52, who was best known for her role as Ronnie Mitchell in the BBC soap for best part of a decade, revealed her diagnosis in 2022.
In a tribute post to the late Olivia Newton-John, she wrote on social media: ‘This was the most magical of evenings. Olivia and Chloe had come to see Grease in London and we had dinner together afterwards.
‘I was so excited and in awe, she was my childhood. I now start my own battle with this disease and am left feeling deeply moved.’
The following year she spoke to Metro about now being cancer free following treatment, including a lumpectomy and chemotherapy.
‘I don’t have any more tumours at the moment, I’m clear in that respect,’ she said.
‘But I’m still incredibly cautious about getting my check-ups every year. But also trying not to spend my life waiting to see if it’s around the corner.
‘That’s the most complicated thing with cancer, is trying to put it in a place where you’re responsible about it but you’re also not letting it breathe down your neck every second of every day.’
Now, the star has said she feels ‘so much more enlightened’ after the experience.
‘I know myself better, I feel humbler, I feel calmer,’ she told OK! Magazine.
She also spoke about having to turn down work during this time: ‘After my year-and-a-half of treatment, I started turning down a lot of stuff.
‘I didn’t have the bank balance to match that confidence, trust me.’
She continued: ‘It was me saying the word “no” and my bank account creaking. But there was empowerment in that because I thought, “OK, I need to go through this, spend time with myself and figure out stuff that I’ve never figured out – maybe stuff I’ve buried under a rug.”
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‘Soaps pay very, very well, but the reality of being self-employed means that, yes, you get paid for the jobs you do, but for the six months of the year you don’t work, you don’t get paid.
‘I’ve never been a wealthy person. I’ve gone from job to job, always thinking, “Better say yes because no one’s going to want me if I don’t.”
‘I had very low self-esteem.’
Samantha went on to add that she struggled to find the ‘neurotic, zany energy’ required for acting roles post-treatment, and that although she was physically capable, she didn’t feel emotionally capable.
