Ali Bastian shares candid health update following breast cancer journey

Daily Mirror

19 hours ago

Ali Bastian, who has been in soaps Hollyoaks and Doctors, had a mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiotherapy following her stage II breast cancer diagnosis last year
Former Hollyoaks star Ali Bastian said her body is "under construction" as she opened up about her cancer journey.
After Ali was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer last year, the 42-year-old actress underwent gruelling chemotherapy and had a mastectomy. However, she delighted fans in March this year by revealing she had overcome the disease, statistically the most common cancer in the UK.
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Speaking in a podcast this week, Ali said: "I couldn't have a reconstruction at the time because we always knew I'd have to have radiotherapy. At some point there'll be some kind of something.
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"Initially I was like 100 per cent it's happening. But now, I want to have the conversations and talk through what the options are, but I'm not actually married to any of them at the moment."
The actress, who portrayed Becca Dean in Hollyoaks from 2001 to 2007, gave the update on the Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast, presented by Giovanna Fletcher. Giovanna, 40, asked Ali how she handled her recovery so far, to which Ali said: "In some ways better than I would have imagined actually, even the sort of gearing up for a mastectomy. I've got a really good prosthetic that makes a big difference. It means in clothes I feel normal. It's bright pink. It makes me happy.
"It's just very different to the lump of silicone that you get handed in the hospital, which is a hell of a moment. This is a lot lighter and easy to wear. I quite like that it doesn't look like a chicken fillet, like a pretend boob. It's something that I could show the kids as well because it's so visually appealing."
Ali had a regular role in BBC soap Doctors in 2019 but left to have her first of two children, both of whom are girls. Since starting a family, she hasn't had a majpr acting credit but she told Giovanna she is looking to the future. The star, from Windsor, Berkshire, added: "I just keep saying to myself really 'I'm still under construction, I've been through a lot, I'm healing at the moment.'"
The soap star, who came third in the 2009 series of Strictly Come Dancing, lost her mum in 2023, one year before the cancer journey started. Earlier this year, Ali, who has also been in The Bill, told fans her mum had a short illness.
"Grief, I attempted to put on hold whilst I managed a grueling treatment regime now comes in waves, sometimes crashing, sometimes tidal, rarely gentle… but I try to go gently with myself as I navigate life after cancer and life without you," Ali penned on social media in April.