Hollyoaks and Strictly star Ali Bastian shares breast cancer diagnosis: "I will get through this"

In an exclusive interview with OK! Magazine, she opened up about her recent diagnosis of stage two breast cancer, taking fans into how she learned of the news as well as how she and her family have been coping.

"It was a total shock," she began. "I have mornings when I wake up and I’ve forgotten… and then suddenly I remember. I’m still trying to process it."

The news came in June, after Bastian noted a lump in her breast that she initially believed may have been a "blocked duct" caused by breastfeeding her infant child.

Sadly, a biopsy detected that the lump was in fact cancerous. Bastian recalled hearing the news from her doctor: "I could hear it in the tone of her voice but she told me in the kindest way possible.

"She was very reassuring. She said the words that I’m holding on to, that they have 'intent to cure me'."

The actor is currently undergoing chemotherapy and will also be having a single mastectomy, telling OK! that her doctors are considering a preventative double mastectomy, but no final decision has been made on that yet.

Bastian said that it has been a very difficult time for herself and her husband, but that she has appreciated support from her former Hollyoaks co-stars Sarah Jayne Dunn, Carley Stenson and Jodi Albert.

"Jodi was one of the first people I called. She means the absolute world to me, they all do," said Bastian.

"We've had great fun on Hollyoaks but there’s been so much life since then – the good, the bad and the ugly – and our friendships have endured. We have a deep connection that I'm very grateful for."

Bastian has said that she hopes to return to acting after her treatment, telling OK! that she "really" misses it.

"I will get through this and come out the other side," she added.

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