11 December 2023 , 14:41
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Kéllé Bryan choked back tears as she candidly discussed her chemotherapy experiences while on Loose Women.
The 48-year-old mother-of-two was on the panel of Monday’s show on the ITV lunchtime talk show alongside presenter Ruth Langsford, 63, and fellow panelists Coleen Nolan, 58, and Brenda Edwards 54. Over the course of the episode, the panel discussed the upcoming 2023 episode of The Real Full Monty – an annual ITV show where celebrities strip off to raise awareness about cancer.
Coleen hosts the documentary show – and has discussed in the past her own cancer scare while her sister Linda Nolan, 64, is currently battling cancer and her younger sister Bernie sadly lost her life to the disease in 2013, aged 52. And while the Loose Women stars discussed cancer and The Real Full Monty, they also discussed how daunting chemotherapy can be for those battling illness. Fellow panelist Brenda discussed how her hair had fallen out when she was treated for breast cancer.
While chemotherapy is a well known treatment for cancer, it is used to treat other conditions – including the autoimmune disease lupus, which is a condition where the body’s immune system attacks it’s own healthy tissue. Kéllé was diagnosed with the condition in 1998 and has undergone chemotherapy multiple times to repair her health.
Kelle Bryan became emotional on Loose Women as she discussed her experience of chemotherapy treatment (ITV)As a result, she has suffered from heartbreaking side-effects – including losing her hair. She has also battled thoughts of not being able to live a healthy life with her children if she doesn’t use the treatment – and was coaxed into sharing her experience on Monday’s show.
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Ruth asked her: “It’s awful to have been diagnosed with cancer, it’s very frightening, and then there is this fear of the unknown with chemotherapy. You obviously had chemotherapy, but for lupus. So you’ve been having this for, how many years now?”
Kéllé replied: “That’s a really put me on the spot question so I need to think about it. So… over, on and off, now I’ve narrowed it down to once per year, but it has been over the last seven to eight years, periodically, but now I’m down to once a year.”
Ruth then asked: “And do you have anything, like Brenda’s talked about, where you have a mental attitude? Is there anything you do every time you go?” Kéllé then struggled to answer, as she replied: “I think for me I, I… wow. Isn’t it weird?”
Kéllé then became unable to speak as she battled her emotions. Consoled by Brenda, who told her to take her time, the former Eternal singer took a moment to compose herself before she could go on. With a deep breath, Kéllé continued: “Wow. I wasn’t expecting that. I think for me, it was about, erm, it’s about your children… I do that so I can have the life that I have with my children. For me, that eight hours in the chair, I can then live a relatively normal, happy life, with my children. I can still do the things that I’ve always wanted to do with them and live the life I’ve wanted to live with them.
“So for me, it is eight hours versus that. So for me that’s a no brainer to make that decision. And it’s not easy. It’s not by any means is it easy, because when it’s coming up, you know it’s coming and you’re always thinking about it.”
Her voice breaking, Kéllé continued to fight back her emotions as she continued her story and explained: “And you think about all of the things that you’re then going to feel. And I think for women in particular, you know, losing your hair is just so difficult. The other day, because I’m doing panto in Wolverhampton, I have my hair braided because it’s going under a wig every night. I was seeing a hairdresser that I don’t normally see, and they went to do my hair and I was like ‘Oh, look, don’t worry, I’ve lost my hair twice now because of chemotherapy’. And then that changed her attitude to the way she approached me in the chair because at first it was like ‘She’s had a few problems’ but it’s like ‘No, I have had a few problems’. It’s those kind of processes that women struggle with because of the side effects.”