Former EastEnders star Samantha Womack has said she is free from breast cancer, five months after being diagnosed and having undergone chemotherapy.
Speaking to OK! magazine, Womack, who is best known for playing Ronnie Mitchell in the BBC soap EastEnders up until 2017, said that she is “very thankful for [her] life”.
Appearing alongside her partner, and former Coronation Street actor Oliver Farnworth, Womack said that her diagnosis and treatment has been a “rollercoaster,” and has meant that she has had to take time away from the West End production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which she is currently starring in.
“I had surgery quite quickly, a lumpectomy and now I am just having some treatments while I go back to work, as a kind of prevention,” she said.
In another part of the interview, Womack said: “I feel very thankful for my life. I know that sounds crazy, but it’s almost like I can see the beauty in everything now – like everything feels special.
“I keep bursting into tears, because I’m happy.”
The 50-year-old first revealed her breast cancer diagnosis in tribute to Olivia Newton-John, who died in August following a long-term battle with the disease.
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Tweeting a photo of her and her daughter Chloe with the Grease star, back when Womack was playing the character of Sandy in the West End production, the actor wrote: “This was the most magical of evenings. Olivia and Chloe had come to see Grease in London and we had dinner together afterwards.
“I was so excited and in awe, she was my childhood. I now start my own battle with this disease and am left feeling deeply moved.”
Since, Womack has kept her fans and supporters updated on her health and the treatment she is continuing to receive.
In October, Womack shared a video with her 106,000 Instagram followers, thanking them for the support and explaining that she had undergone both a lumpectomy and lymph node removal before starting chemotherapy.
Last month, in her first TV interview since going public about her diagnosis, Womack appeared on This Morning, where she encouraged other individuals to check their breasts regularly.
She said: “So many women should be checking themselves in their 30s and 40s. There are so many women who would be diagnosed earlier if they just checked sooner.”
Womack rose to fame as Mandy in the British comedy Game On in the 1990s, and has since appeared in a number of films, television series and stage shows, including comedy drama Mount Pleasant and the spy series Kingsman.
She initially planned a career in singing and represented the UK in the 1991 Eurovision Song Contest, performing A Message To Your Heart. She finished 10th.
