Duchess of York to make Loose Women debut for breast cancer awareness campaign

The Duchess of York will make her debut on ITV’s Loose Women to launch a breast cancer awareness campaign following her treatment for the illness earlier this year.

Sarah Ferguson underwent an eight-hour single mastectomy operation after discovering she had an early form of breast cancer during a routine mammogram.

The special episode, billed as Ferguson’s first TV appearance since revealing her diagnosis, will launch its “Don’t Skip Your Screening” campaign to highlight the importance of being checked for cancer.

The duchess will join presenters Christine Lampard, Coleen Nolan and Brenda Edwards on the show’s panel to discuss the campaign and her own experiences since being diagnosed with breast cancer.

Ahead of the show on Thursday (2 November), Ferguson revealed she nearly skipped the screening appointment “that saved my life” adding that her cancer journey “underlines the importance of getting screened” regularly.

“I couldn’t face a journey into London on a hot day this summer and it was only my sister Jane’s insistence that I went, that persuaded me,” the mother-of-two said. “My cancer was completely symptom-free – I never found a lump and did not feel ill.”

Doctors noticed a “shadow” in one of her breasts during the screening in May, which was later diagnosed as cancer.

Ferguson added that she is “proud” to support the campaign, which is being backed by NHS England, to encourage other women to attend the appointments when they are invited.

In July, Ferguson confirmed she underwent an eight-hour-long single mastectomy, adding that the diagnosis was “scary” for her daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, during an episode of her podcast Tea Talks.

She said: “I think it’s scary for any family member out there, you really start looking at your own demise. It’s a wake up call, and you think, right okay, how am I going to deal with this?”

Ferguson also advised her listeners to “do the screening, catch it quick”, while thanking the medical professionals at King Edward VII’s Hospital in London for their care and treatment.

Earlier this year, Ferguson also explained how the mastectomy helped her overcome the “self-hatred that stemmed from years of being compared to Diana.

During a separate episode of her podcast, Ferguson suggested she had to have a “body part cut off” before she could “wake up”.

She told her co-host, Sarah Thompson: “Not because of seeing death, but waking up to stop worrying, stop self-hatred, stop self-doubt, stop all these things. Stop not liking yourself, really, please, honestly.

“Does it take that?... Yes, it did in my case,” Ferguson continued. “[I] didn’t like myself and that was because I think I was always compared to Diana and I think at the end I sort of believed my own press which is not too good.”

Charity Breast Cancer Now said it is “extremely grateful” that the show is “shining a bright spotlight on breast screening” and “highlighting the important issue of tackling the shortfall in women having breast screening caused by the Covid-19 pandemic”.

In a statement, it added: “Breast screening is a vital tool in helping to detect breast cancer at the earliest possible stage, when treatment is more likely to be successful.

“We encourage all women to attend breast screening appointments when invited and to regularly check their breasts, reporting any unusual changes to their GP as soon as possible.”

The duchess will join the panel on Loose Women on 2 November from 12:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX.