BBC newsreader Jane Hill reveals she had a mastectomy after battling breast cancer

bbc jane hill reveals mastectomy breast cancer
(Image credit: Getty Images for Diva Magazine)

Jane Hill has opened up on her breast cancer diagnosis.

The BBC newsreader appeared on daily talk show Lorraine to talk about her battle with the illness, revealing that she underwent a mastectomy, but decided not to go through reconstruction surgery because it ‘wasn’t right’ for her.

‘I had a mastectomy in November,’ she revealed to Lorraine presenter Christine Lampard. ‘I decided against reconstruction surgery,’ she continued. ‘It wasn’t right for me, a reconstruction requires multiple surgeries.’

‘I didn’t want to put myself through anymore anesthetic. I do have a massive great scar across my chest,’ she added.

Jane also said that her healthy lifestyle was what helped her to recover from her major operation.

‘Having lived a healthy lifestyle helped with my recovery,’ she said.

‘I’m a regular gym-goer and I definitely realised with hindsight it has helped my recovery. Eating broccoli for 25 years has helped.’

She also explained that she kept quiet about her health battle on social media as she was worried something would go wrong.

More:Woman shares her lesser-known breast cancer symptoms on social media in touching post

‘I left work at the end of November. You just don’t know how it’s going to go. You hope the operation is going to go well,’ she said.

‘My surgeon was amazing. On the day of my diagnosis what she made me do was walk away thinking about all the positives in my case.

‘I was super lucky, Christine’ admitted the newsreader. ‘I didn’t want to start talking about it on social media in case there was hiccup. I'd hoped I'd only be off work for six months, what if it turned out to be a year and a half?

‘I didn't want to have to think about logging on and posting an update,’ she confessed, ‘it wasn't right for me to do updates.’

The 50-year-old, who has worked with the major broadcaster since 1986, revealed her cancer diagnosis back in May when she posted about it on her social media page.

Aleesha Badkar
Digital Beauty Editor, woman&home

Aleesha is Digital Beauty Editor at woman&home, where she gets to share her expertise into all the best techniques, sharpest tools and newest products—with a particular savvy in skincare and fragrance.

Previously, she was Deputy Editor and Beauty & Fashion Editor for My Imperfect Life, where she headed up the beauty, fashion and eCommerce pages. In the past, she has worked as Shopping Writer at woman&home, gained an AOP awards nomination after working on their news team, contributed to Women's Health, Stylist and Goodto and earned an MA in Magazine Journalism from City, University of London.