EastEnders' Heather Peace reveals wife Ellie has breast cancer after her own surgery and treatment to beat the disease
The actress, 50, who plays Eve Sopal-Unwin in the BBC soap, was diagnosed in October and went public with the news last month after having a mastectomy.
4
4
4
Now, as she prepares to begin radiotherapy treatment, Heather told the Mirror that Ellie has quietly been living with the condition too.
She explained: "Her breast cancer was a smaller, aggressive lump, so she had a lumpectomy and then radiotherapy.
"Of course then I come along with my 12 cm lump, absolutely ginormous, and mastectomy, chemotherapy, just about to go into radiotherapy.
"She's like 'Even that you have to do bigger.' It's like 'Hold my beer.'"
She captioned her post: "This video is an important part of my recent journey, which I wanted to share with you.
"It's been about the #TeamEffort here @bbceastenders.
"I needed a wig fitting. I've been on quite a road for many months now.
"I was diagnosed with breast cancer at the beginning of October.
"Since then I've undergone surgery and recovery over the Christmas period and today my chemotherapy journey ended.
EastEnders legend set for heartbreak as she makes shock decision amid secret affair
"I woke up this morning and it was like the end of the London Marathon; I'd turned onto The Mall and could see the giant clock & the finish line.
"To conclude - I've just picked up my medal."
Heather told her followers she has been "forever changed" by the disease and paid tribute to Ellie and their three daughters, Annie, Jessie and Lola, for getting her through it.
She said she was "just trying to appreciate every moment of them".
Heather added: "There have been so many positives.
"Thank you to the whole EE team for going above & beyond. Particularly our amazing makeup team.
"And to Alex Rouss for the original wig & Linda for the spot on cut.
"I've felt totally supported by you all. Thank you to all of the friends in my local community who've been there for me and my family at the drop of a hat (you know who you are).
"Thank you to the NHS. You are wonderful, skilled people. You treated me efficiently. You gave me dignity and showed me kindness. It's so appreciated."
Heather ended her post admitting "life feels very different now" but said "it's wonderful".
She said: "I will continue to cherish and be grateful for all I am blessed with. I feel very lucky. With love, Heather xxx"
Kellie Bright, who plays Linda Carter on the show, was among the first to send her well wishes.
She penned: "I've said it before and I'll say it again…. WARRIOR WOMAN!!!! Love the bones of you."
What are the signs of breast cancer?
BREAST cancer is the most common type of cancer in the UK.
The majority of women who get it are over 50, but younger women and, in rare cases, men can also get breast cancer.
If it's treated early enough, breast cancer can be prevented from spreading to other parts of the body.
Breast cancer can have a number of symptoms, but the first noticeable symptom is usually a lump or area of thickened breast tissue.
Most breast lumps aren't cancerous, but it's always best to have them checked by your doctor. You should also speak to your GP if you notice any of the following:
a change in the size or shape of one or both breasts
discharge from either of your nipples (which may be streaked with blood)
a lump or swelling in either of your armpits
dimpling on the skin of your breasts
a rash on or around your nipple
a change in the appearance of your nipple, such as becoming sunken into your breast
Source: NHS
Honey Mitchell actress Emma Barton wrote: "Love you so much, you beautiful, strong, mental, brave lady… You're frigging Ace!!!"
Soap fans know her as Walford's Eve, but Heather also has another job away from our TV screens.
The star is also a singer and has released five albums.
Heather regularly performs up and down the country and treats her Instagram followers to snippets of her gigs.
The talented artist can play guitar and piano and performs with a band at live concerts.
Heather got her first taste of music success in 2000 when her London's Burning character sang Bette Midler song The Rose, which was released and reached no. 58 in the UK charts.
She has since released five albums, the last of which was 2018's Hey Mayhem.
The Bradford born star, who also played Nikki Boston in Waterloo Road, joined EastEnders as Eve in October 2021.
Stacey Slater's former cellmate and wife has been a regular in the soap ever since, most recently marrying second wife Suki Panesar.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
24 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Zayn Malik drops bombshell about facing 'racism' during One Direction days
In an upcoming new song, Zayn Malik touches on his experience with racism while he was in the band that made him famous, One Direction. On Saturday the 32-year-old British singer, who has a Pakistani and Muslim background, previewed his upcoming track Fuchsia Sea, in which he raps about being othered. Malik was an active member of the boy band from 2010 to 2015, alongside Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and the late Liam Payne. In a verse on the forthcoming single, Zayn raps: 'Got my back against the wall so much they think I got a brick fascination / Do you remember every conversation? 'Cause I have been conscious of every connotation. 'And while they concentrate on their elevation, I've got a round trip to the constellation / I'm a convert to the concert, and I did that for inflation, 'cause I worked hard in a White band, and they still laughed at the Asian.' He shared a snippet of the song on Instagram, teasing that the full tune is 'coming soon.' The father-of-one, who shares four-year-old daughter Khai with ex-girlfriend Gigi Hadid, typed the lyrics in an Instagram Stories post. This is not the first time Zayn has addressed racism in his music. A leaked song called Yellow Metal (Cathartic) details his plight as he recites, 'Said I had a problem with hittin' the kids that would call me paki / Still sittin' in classroom chillin' / I'm angry now that I'm older 'cause I see they treat us different / Got me thinking I'm the problem 'cause they never dealt with these issues.' Elsewhere in the music, he sings, 'Twenty years later, I'm still in the same boat / Tryna treat me like my grandpa, say I came up off the boat.' After One Direction was formed via The X Factor UK in 2010, Malik made his exit five years later. He announced the news via the group's Facebook page 10 years ago. 'I feel like it is now the right time for me to leave the band,' he said in a statement. Zayn added, 'I'd like to apologize to the fans if I've let anyone down, but I have to do what feels right in my heart. I am leaving because I want to be a normal 22-year-old who is able to relax and have some private time out of the spotlight. I know I have four friends for life in Louis, Liam, Harry and Niall.' Zayn and his former bandmates unexpectedly reunited last year when they gathered to mourn the loss of Liam. The late singer died suddenly when he fell from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires at age 31 in October. In January his cause of death was officially ruled as 'polytrauma' — a term used to describe multiple traumatic injuries sustained by the body. He had a blood alcohol concentration of 'up to 2.7 grams per liter in his blood,' according to the National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor's Office No. 14. In addition to alcohol, the toxicology report found traces of several substances in Liam's system: cocaine metabolites, methylecgonine, benzoylecgomine, cocaethylene, and the antidepressant sertraline.
Telegraph
30 minutes ago
- Telegraph
The Salt Path's author accused of stealing £64k before losing house in court battle
The bestselling author of The Salt Path has been accused of stealing £64,000 before losing her home after paying back the illicit gains. Raynor Winn's memoir, written in 2018, traces how losing her beloved Welsh farmhouse following a 'bad investment' and battling her husband's corticobasal degeneration diagnosis spurred the penniless pair to walk the 630-mile South West Coast Path. The book gained plaudits for its ' unflinching honesty ', selling two million copies worldwide. Last year, it was adapted into a film starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs. The author has gone on to write two sequels and secured a lucrative contract with Penguin to publish at least one more. But an investigation by The Observer claims the reason Winn and her husband, Moth, ended up in financial difficulty was because she was caught embezzling funds. The investigation claims the couple are believed to have been known as Sally and Tim Walker before they fled Wales after losing a court battle. Questions have also been raised over Moth's rare neurological condition, which is a similar disease to Parkinson's. The life expectancy of sufferers is around six to eight years, but he has been living with the condition for 18 years with no apparent visible side effects. Winn has branded the Observer article as 'highly misleading' and emphasised that The Salt Path 'is the true story of our journey'. The author did not clarify which parts of the article she contested. In the book, Winn explains how a childhood friend of her husband's called Cooper had persuaded the pair to invest in his business which later went bust. Winn said Cooper took the couple to court to recoup the debt, where the judge ruled their house should be repossessed in lieu of the owed money. Last month, Winn told Country Life magazine: 'Our lives had been suddenly turned upside down: my husband Moth had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and we became homeless, thanks to a bad investment. 'We had nothing to lose, so we decided to go for a very long walk.' Accusations of stealing money But a woman claiming to be the wife of the author's former boss says that is not the true story of how the couple ended up in financial difficulty. Ros Hemmings has accused Winn of pocketing money while she worked part-time as a bookkeeper for an estate agency and property surveyor in Pwllheli, north Wales, in the 2000s. Ms Hemmings said her husband Martin, the firm's owner, had noticed Winn failed to deposit a large sum of money in 2008, prompting him to conduct an audit and find that around £9,000 was missing from the previous few months. Winn is said to have pleaded with Mr Hemmings for a chance to pay the money back. 'She was sobbing in the yard and said: 'I've even had to sell my mother's wedding dress to do this,'' Ms Hemmings told The Observer, adding that the family had accepted her offer. She added: 'Her claims [in the book] that it was all just a business deal that went wrong really upset me. When really she had embezzled the money from my husband. It made me feel sick. 'In the end, I think it was around £64,000 that Raynor Winn had nicked over the previous few years.' Michael Strain, the Hemmings' solicitor, said Winn had been arrested and interviewed by police but vanished after being sent home for the night. Money borrowed from distant relative A life coach in her 60s, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Observer that Winn had shown up in London in 2008 asking her husband, a distant relative of Moth's, for a loan to repay the money to Mr Hemmings. ' [Raynor] told him she was on the run from the police because her employer had found out she had been taking money and was going to prosecute her criminally,' the life coach said. The Winns allegedly borrowed £100,000 from the couple, secured against their house, and repaid the money to Mr and Ms Hemmings. When the family member's business went bust in 2010, the loan is said to have passed on to two people he owed money to. They called it in and took the Winns to court in 2012, securing possession of their house. The family member reportedly filed a witness statement in which he told the court that 'the purpose of the loan is clear: it was required to settle a criminal allegation made against Mrs Walker'. It is also claimed that rather than being 'homeless' after losing the property in Wales, the Winns have owned a property in south-west France since 2007. 'Article is highly misleading' Prof Michele Hu, a consultant neurologist and professor of clinical neurosciences at Oxford University, also told the Observer that Moth's illness did not add up. 'I would be very sceptical that it is corticobasal. I've never looked after anyone that's lived that long,' she said. Winn has acknowledged that her husband's recovery seems miraculous. 'We do know that neuroplasticity exists, although we know very little about it,' she writes, adding: 'We used to think the Earth was flat. We used to think no universe existed beyond our own.' A statement made on behalf of Winn by her lawyers said: 'Today's Observer article is highly misleading. 'We are taking legal advice and won't be making any further comment at this time. The Salt Path lays bare the physical and spiritual journey Moth and I shared, an experience that transformed us completely and altered the course of our lives. 'This is the true story of our journey.'
The Sun
31 minutes ago
- The Sun
Beaming Emma Raducanu watches Carlos Alcaraz on Centre Court amid romance rumours with Wimbledon men's champion
EMMA RADUCANU beamed as she watched Carlos Alcaraz on Centre Court - amid romance rumours between the pair. Alcaraz - the reigning Wimbledon men's champion - faced Andrey Rublev in the Last 16 of the tournament. 1 And watching full of smiles was Raducanu - recently beaten in round three by World No1 Aryna Sabalenka. Raducanu brought in over five millions viewers for her defeat to Sabalenka - the third-highest ratings for any non-final contest in the last three years. The enthralling contest, which saw world No1 Sabalenka narrowly beat British favourite Raducanu 7-6 6-4, was watched by a peak audience of 5.32 million. Off the court, Raducanu, 22, has been romantically Alcaraz, 22, but she has denied any sort of a relationship. She said: 'We're just good friends.' The two will be a little more than just friends at the US Open in August after announcing they will team up for the mixed doubles event in New York.
