Actress and presenter Lisa Faulkner has been diagnosed with breast cancer. The 54-year-old, best known for fronting John and Lisa's Weekend Kitchen alongside her TV chef husband John Torode, revealed she underwent major surgery two weeks ago and has since been given the all-clear – but still faces a course of radiotherapy.
In a video posted to Instagram on Thursday, Faulkner explained her recent silence. “I know I’ve been very quiet on here, reason being I have had to have surgery for the early stages of breast cancer,” she said. “It was quite a big op but it’s all good and I’ve my results back and they’ve got everything out. So it’s all clear and I just need now to have some radiotherapy in a few weeks.”
“Lisa Faulkner reveals early-stage breast cancer diagnosis, successful surgery, urges mammograms.”
The former Holby City and EastEnders actress, who has 372,000 followers on the platform, said she still had “a bit of healing to do” but felt “so much better”. She urged others not to delay screening. “I am so grateful that I went for my mammogram,” she said. “Don’t put them off, go, because they found this and without that mammogram it wouldn’t have been picked up.”
Faulkner thanked the “wonderful NHS” for the scan and early treatment. Her mother Julie died from throat cancer aged just 44, and earlier this year Faulkner told HELLO! magazine: “Life’s short. My mum died when she was 44 and didn’t get to have that second act. So I grab it.” This year she returned to the stage for the first time in over 20 years, in the touring adaptation of Single White Female.
Her diagnosis comes as an oncologist warns that breast cancer symptoms can be more than just a lump. Dr Jiri Kubes, Radiation Oncologist and Medical Director at the Proton Therapy Center, said: “While most women know to check the breast for lumps or swelling, some abnormalities are not noticeable by sight.” He pointed to other red-flag signs: a change in colour, or a rash or crusting around the nipple. “Colour change may make the breast seem darker, red or inflamed, which may be harder to spot on darker skin, while a rash may look similar to eczema.”
Research published in The Lancet Oncology projects global breast cancer cases will reach over 3.5 million by 2050. In the UK alone, one woman is diagnosed every ten minutes, according to Breast Cancer Now, which also says more than half of UK women do not check their breasts regularly. Faulkner, who married Torode in 2019 and has four children, says early detection saved her. “Thank you to our wonderful NHS and the fact we can have these mammograms and we can get treatment early.”