Julia Bradbury feared she’d never travel again after breast cancer diagnosis

Julia Bradbury discovered she had cancer two years ago after she found a lump in her breast. She had her breast plus two lymph glands removed before undergoing reconstruction surgery

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Julia Bradbury shares heartbreaking moment before mastectomy

Julia Bradbury has confessed she feared she’d ever fly again or wear a bikini after she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

The former Countryfile presenter, 51, underwent a mastectomy in October. She had her breast plus two lymph glands removed before undergoing reconstruction surgery.

And speaking to Hello! magazine from her luxury holiday in Mauritius with her partner Gerry and their three kids, Zephyrus, 10, and seven-year-old twins Xanthe and Zena, she explained: “I have this feeling of embracing everything now, grabbing everything that life has to offer with open arms.

“I wasn’t sure that I would ever travel again – and certainly wasn’t sure whether I’d wear a bikini ever again.”

The presenter added that while she’d always appreciated the “healing power of nature,” following her health scare she did so even more now.

Julia’s cancer journey began when she found a lump in her breast two years ago. After going for a mammogram, doctors advised that she had a series of harmless micro-cysts in her breast and she was advised to return for another mammogram a year later.

Her second mammogram, in July 2021, found the same result, but with the lump in her breast becoming more and more sore and tender, Julia was sent for an ultrasound.

She continued: “I’m still at the acute end of coming through my diagnosis and coming to terms with everything, so life is very heightened.

“The skies are a deeper shade of blue, the patterns of nature are more striking than usual. I’m taking it all in.”

Julia revealed she was using her illness to help her “reset” any emotional and physical health issues she was dealing with and went on to say she now meditates daily.

She also confessed she now sleeps at least eight hours each night and has cut out almost all of her alcohol intake.

She added: “It will be a long time before you find me dancing on tables again – and I love dancing on tables.”

Julia went on to reveal she promised her kids at the start of their holiday that she’d agree to all of their requests, from swimming to trekking or eating ice cream but only one a day.

She added: “They are this size for such a short time: you blink and they’re gone.

“I want to enjoy every one of those moments and they’re even more magnified and precious now.”

Read the full interview in Hello! magazine, out now.