Loose Women panellist Carol McGiffin was left in tears on Friday’s show, as a poignant clip about breast cancer from ITV drama Cold Feet reminded her of her own experiences.
The presenter broke down after watching the moment character Jenny Gifford found out she had the disease, admitting it stirred memories of her own diagnosis.
Carol was discovered she had breast cancer in 2014, going public with news of her illness a year later, having undergone a mastectomy, six doses of chemotherapy and 15 rounds of radiotherapy.
As the panel were joined by Cold Feet actor Fay Ripley to discuss her character’s current storyline, Carol burst into tears after seeing a clip from the show.
“I’m sorry I never cry on TV,” Carol said, as she mopped her tears with a tissue.
“I haven’t seen that. I know exactly how it feels.”.
Fay comforted her, saying: “I know you do and that’s the thing we are tackling something that’s in everyone’s lives.
“That’s the thing that was the hardest, because they said to me how do you feel about it.
“Members of my family have cancer and my friends have cancer, the world appears to have cancer.
“The thing that really was the thing for me was that I just didn’t want to let you down.”
Carol admitted to not having seen the current series of the ITV drama, telling Fay: “I thought this will be tough to watch. I hadn’t seen those clips yet. Just the look on your face is how it happens.”
“But, just the look on your face is exactly how it happens isn’t it and keeping it secret as well, I kind of understand that, because I didn’t tell anybody – only Mark [Cassidy, her husband] that’s it.”
Carol, who earlier this week announced she had privately married partner Mark Cassidy a year ago, later took to social media admitting she had felt overwhelmed by seeing the clip.
She wrote on Twitter: “Bit of a shock seeing the poignant clips from #ColdFeet with the brilliant @FayRipley talking about Jenny’s storyline.
“Sometimes, amidst all the great stuff in my life, I forget that I had breast cancer and have so far survived it, hence the rare (public) tears….x @loosewomen.”
After Carol beat the disease, she faced further heartbreak when her sister Tracy was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer in 2016, sadly dying four months later.
Carol, who quit Loose Women in 2013 prior to returning last year, previously opened up about her own concerns her cancer would return.
She told Bella magazine in 2016: “I worry that it’s coming back and then think: ‘What’s the point?’ Do you know what I mean? It’s complete paranoia. I’m really scared that it’s all just going to go wrong again.”
