Appearing on Loose Women last week, legendary businesswoman Jo Malone spoke about the effect breast cancer had on her life.
The perfumer, and founder of the hugely popular scent brand, was diagnosed with the disease in 2003.
Speaking on the ITV panel show, she confessed that her life changed dramatically when she given her diagnosis, which came three years after she sold her eponymous business.
Jo revealed that as she is dyslexic, her sense of smell is much stronger than her other senses.
She told the panellists, “I’m dyslexic, so my senses are all really muddled. I smell scents before I see colours.”
But she went on to explain that as a result of her breast cancer treatment, she actually lost her sense of smell – something she felt defined her as a person.
Jo explained, “Three years [after], I was diagnosed with breast cancer. So my whole world changed very dramatically in a very short space of time.
“When I’d come through all this pioneering treatment, I was a very different person. And, I’d lost my sense of smell.”
“I was one of the first women to take chemotherapy every five days, I was given a very grim diagnosis,” she explained.
“It took my sense of smell and I thought it had gone forever. And then after I quit Jo Malone and walked away, it then came back eight weeks later. I mean, how cruel is that?”
Jo went on to reveal what a “terrible” loss it was at the time, given that her sense of smell defined how she “saw the world”.
The 55-year-old explained, “It was terrible, because it was my means of communication, it’s how I saw the world. It was like my best friend. All I could smell was a strong metal smell.”
Loose Women guest panellist Brenda Edwards revealed that she suffered a similar side-effect after going through cancer treatment, sharing how everything she ate also tasted like metal.
Jo went on to tell the audience that thankfully, her sense of smell is back now.
She said, “But, look at me know, I’m living the best of my life that I possibly could, I don’t regret anything. And that sense of smell has come back differently, and I can smell things I never did before.”
In 1999, Jo sold the brand that holds her name to Estee Lauder for “undisclosed millions”. She has since gone on to found the fragrance brand Jo Loves, which she runs to this day.
