Trisha Goddard hits back at 'cancer sob story' trolls after 'Dancing on Ice' exit
Trisha Goddard has hit back at online trolls who accused her of using a “cancer sob story” during her time on Dancing on Ice.
She became the first person to be voted off the ITV contest on Sunday night, but said she was proud of what she had achieved and was more upset by some of the abuse levelled at her on social media.
Read more: Caprice’s husband is terrified of the Dancing on Ice curse
Chat show host and TV presenter Goddard was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008, and has been open about her struggles to overcome her illness.
Our @KemCetinay caught up with @TrishaGoddard & @icelukasz to chat about their skate-off, coming 12th, and why Trisha's planning to keep skating. 💕 #DancingOnIce pic.twitter.com/S5JqkSDPh6
— Dancing on Ice (@dancingonice) January 12, 2020
But when she talked about overcoming her diagnosis and taking new opportunities on Dancing on Ice, she faced some cruel criticism from viewers.
Callous comments included viewers tweeting that there was “no need” to keep mentioning it and that she was “using it as a sob story”.
#DancingOnIce Does Trisha have to keep mentioning cancer ??, No need !!
— Sir Conman (@ConmanSir) January 12, 2020
I’m not taking it away from her and all the good in the world for beating it, but Trisha got over cancer 11 years ago - why is she using it as a sob story now? #dancingonice
— S H D (@sashaholly_) January 12, 2020
Trisha is a legend anyone saying she’s using a sob story give ya head a wobble . She’s a cancer survivor so she deserves some respect for that #DancingOnIce
— Touchmy6ballz (@PriceXMark) January 5, 2020
Goddard defended herself by telling Metro: “I just pray that nobody in their families get cancer. Seriously I think that shows problems within those people.
“I absolutely was using breast cancer - to raise awareness.
“I wanted to show other women that it’s OK to do stuff and be active and not feel like you’re going to fall apart. Cancer made me feel like I was going to be struck down and fall apart.”
Read more: Vanessa Bauer pulls out of Dancing on Ice after horror fall
One of the things that Goddard wanted to highlight was her use of a pressure sleeve to combat lymphoedema, a chronic swelling condition that some cancer patients suffer from, and she incorporated the sleeve into her costume.
Nice to see Trisha proudly wearing her compression sleeve on #DancingOnIce
— Debbie Pressdee (@LittleDebris) January 12, 2020
She also said that she wanted to address the mental health aspect of overcoming a cancer diagnosis and treatment which could leave people feeling low on self-confidence.
Goddard went up against ITV news reader Lucrezia Millarini in the series’ first skate-off, but the judges voted for her to be the first contestant eliminated.
