Countryfile hero Julia Bradbury fought back tears as she recounted her harrowing experience with cancer.
The seasoned BBC broadcaster has been vocal about her breast cancer journey, aiming to raise awareness and help others spot early warning signs that could be easily overlooked. Despite having shared her story previously, the raw emotion can still overwhelm her at times.
On Davina McCall’s ‘Begin Again’ podcast, the beloved Countryfile presenter opened up about the heart-wrenching moment her doctor confirmed her worst fears with a definitive cancer diagnosis. Choking back tears, she confessed: “And I’ve never cried at this bit of the story before, but it’s the moment you feel most vulnerable, and it’s also the moment that you do nothing.”
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Julia, who had an active lifestyle travelling the globe for various travel documentaries, including shows in Iceland, Germany, and South Africa during the 2010 World Cup, found her life abruptly halted by the illness. She vividly remembered the immediate aftermath of her diagnosis, when she phoned her partner Gerald to break the devastating news.
She said: “I told him, and we cried. And I said, I’ll do whatever I have to do to get through this. I will do whatever it is.” Determined, she declared her readiness to face any challenge that lay ahead in her treatment.
She continued: “If I have to lose a breast, I’ll have to lose my hair. If I have to go, whatever it is I need to do. I’m going to do what I need to do to get through this.”
Julia emphasised that fighting cancer is not a one-size-fits-all battle, noting: “Every type of cancer is different. Every type of breast cancer is different.
Julia Bradbury laid the trauma of her cancer fight bare during Davina McCall’s Begin Again podcast
(Image: Youtube/Begin Again podcast)
“You’ll have a friend who’s gone through breast cancer, and she and I will sit down and have a story, and we’ll have had a different tumour in a different place, and it will behave differently.”
She continued: “It’s very complicated. And that’s the reason why the war on cancer hasn’t been won yet.”
However, she believes there are certain fundamental rules everyone can adhere to in order to maximise their chances of avoiding cancer: “I don’t believe there is one thing that will cure anybody’s cancer. I don’t think it’s one drug. I don’t think it’s one treatment. I don’t think it’s just one approach.”
“I believe the cancer has to be treated holistically, that it it is to do with so many factors and if you’re not metabolically healthy, if you’re not a healthy person, if you’re not feeding yourself the right foods, if you’re drinking lots of alcohol and you’re eating lots of sugar, that’s not the best environment to fight cancer, because it’s a metabolic disease that’s feeding off all sorts of things.”
According to Gloucestershire Live, since her diagnosis in 2021 the Dublin-born presenter has consciously slowed down her lifestyle, ensuring the first 20 minutes of her day are dedicated to quiet meditation and yoga breathing, a stark contrast to the hectic scramble that defined her life pre-cancer.
She concluded: “There is never enough time to do everything you will have to sacrifice something to make way for something else.” But when it comes to your health, Julia emphasises, nothing is more crucial.