Danielle Lloyd reveals she lost two stone from stress after shock cancer diagnosis left her 'crumbling inside' and thinking she was 'going to die'

Daily Mail​

23-05-2025

Danielle Lloyd has given a candid new insight into her devastating cancer battle, revealing her all-consuming fear that she was going to die.
The model and TV host, 41, was diagnosed with the deadliest form of skin cancer, melanoma, in February.
What followed was a traumatising six weeks as she waited to discover whether the disease had spread - leaving her struggling to eat, sleep, and even do the most basic of household tasks.
As a result of her stress and lack of appetite she ended up losing a worrying two stone.
Symptoms of melanoma include a new mole or changes to an existing mole, which is exactly what happened to the star.
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Danielle, who has now been given the all-clear, told The Sun: 'Being a mum, I was trying to put a brave face on for everyone, but inside I've been crumbling.
'I was worried every single day that I was going to die.'
Danielle shares Archie, 14, Harry, 13, and George, 11, with ex-husband Jamie O'Hara. She is mother to Ronnie, seven, and Autumn Rose, three, with husband Michael O'Neill.
Danielle's ordeal began last spring when she noticed that a mole on her collarbone was changing shape.
After tragically losing a friend to bowel cancer the previous year, she knew it was worth investigating and visited her GP, who referred her onto a dermatologist who advised removal.
This took place in December, but Danielle had to wait an agonising nine weeks before she was diagnosed with melanoma.
Recalling her reaction, she said: 'I just burst into tears. I wasn't expecting it. When I heard the word 'cancer', I just thought, "That's it, I'm going to die."'
She then had to have the skin surrounding the mole removed as a preventative measure as doctors worked to establish whether or not the cancer had spread.
Danielle said she told her older kids who were old enough to understand that she had cancer but refrained from telling her younger children as she did not want them to jump to the worst case scenario.
Thankfully, eight weeks after her February procedure, Danielle was told she was cancer free.
It is not the first time Danielle has had a cancer scare as she was rushed to hospital in 2023 after suffering from heavy bleeding.
Doctors then discovered she had large cysts on her ovaries, but was thankfully told they were non-cancerous after undergoing a biopsy.
She also found a lump in her breast last year and she was given the all-clear in October after a biopsy discovered the lump was benign.
What is malignant melanoma?
Malignant melanoma is a serious form of skin cancer that begins in melanocytes, cells found in the upper layer of skin that produce melanin, which gives skin its colour.
While less common that other types of skin cancer, it is more dangerous because of its ability to spread to other organs more rapidly if it is not treated at an early stage.
Symptoms
A new mole or a change in an existing mole may be signs of melanoma.
Melanomas can appear anywhere on your body, but they're more common in areas that are often exposed to the sun.
Some rarer types can affect the eyes, soles of the feet, palms of the hands or genitals.
Check your skin for any unusual changes. Use a mirror or ask a partner or friend to check any areas you cannot see.
In particular, look for:
Moles with an uneven shape or edges
Moles with a mix of colours
Large moles - melanomas often tend to be more than 6mm wide
Moles that change size, shape or colour over time
Causes
Ultraviolet (UV) light is the most common cause of melanoma. It comes from the sun and is used in sunbeds.
Melanoma is more common in older people, but younger people can also get it.
You're also more likely to get melanoma if you have:
Pale skin that burns easily in the sun
Red or blonde hair
Blue or green eyes
A large number of freckles or moles
Had a lot of sun exposure and you've had sunburn a lot in the past
Used sunbeds a lot
A history of skin cancer in your family or you've had skin cancer before
If you have black or brown skin, you have a lower chance of getting melanoma, but you can still get it.
Prevention
Staying safe in the sun is the best way to lower your chance of getting skin cancer (both melanoma and non-melanoma).
Do the following:
Stay out of the sun during the hottest part of the day (11am to 3pm in the UK)
Keep your arms and legs covered and wear a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses that provide protection against ultraviolet (UV) rays
Use sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 30 and at least 4-star UVA protection – make sure you reapply it regularly
Make sure babies and children are protected from the sun – their skin is much more sensitive than adult skin
Treatment
Melanoma skin cancer can often be treated. The treatment you have will depend on where it is, if it has spread and your general health.
Surgery is the main treatment for melanoma. Radiotherapy, medicines and chemotherapy are also sometimes used.
Surgery could involve removing the melanoma and an area of healthy skin around it, swollen lymph nodes if the cancer has spread to them and other parts of the body if it has spread to them.
If a large part of skin has to be removed, a skin graft might be needed which could see kin taken from another part of the body to cover the area where the melanoma was.
Radiotherpay is sometimes used to reduce the size of large melanomas and help control and relieve symptoms.
Targeted medicines and immotherapy are used to treat melanomas that can't be dealt with by surgery, or have spread to lymph glands or other parts of the body.
Chemotherapy, which kills cancer cells, is sometimes used to treat advanced melanoma when it has spread to another part of the body. It does not work as well as other treatments, but can be used if you are unable to have them.
How dangerous is it?
Generally for people with melanoma in England:
almost all people (almost 100%) will survive their melanoma for 1 year or more after they are diagnosed
around 90 out of every 100 people (around 90%) will survive their melanoma for 5 years or more after diagnosis
more than 85 out of every 100 people (more than 85%) will survive their melanoma for 10 years or more after they are diagnosed