The Real Full Montys Victorias heartache after being 9th in family to receive cancer diagnosis

Victoria Ekanoye from ITV's The Real Full Monty has opened up about how her cancer diagnosis hit her "really hard", as she was the ninth person in her family to face the disease. The former Coronation Street actress, 42, discovered a lump in her breast just six months after welcoming her first child in 2021.

She was inspired by the late Girls Aloud singer Sarah Harding to seek a third opinion when she felt something wasn't right. In November, Victoria revealed that she had undergone a double mastectomy after finding the lump.

After receiving the all-clear from doctors, Victoria has been actively raising awareness about cancer and the importance of regular checks. As a patron of the charity Prevent Breast Cancer, she uses platforms like The Real Full Monty: Jingle Balls to spread her message.

Victoria opened up to the Mirror about her cancer journey, revealing how the diagnosis "hit really hard" as she is the ninth member in her family to have been diagnosed with cancer.

She said: "Theo was six months old when I found a lump and I guess, two things for me: One thing is a lot of women and I hate that I'm saying this because a lot of women assume that any changes in your body are down to just having had a baby but it's really important that you are still very breast and body aware because you just never know.

"I'm the ninth person in my family now to develop cancer the fifth to develop breast cancer I'm a patron of a cancer charity so it would've been really silly of me not to take my own advice.

"I do speeches at universities and conferences and all that kind of stuff and, all of a sudden, it was me. I was doing this [raising awareness] before I was diagnosed because it's involved so much of my family. And with my mum being one of those people."

Victoria's mum Candy, who also supports Prevent Breast Cancer, was diagnosed with the disease in 2003 when she was 41.

Candy's sister also battled breast cancer, while another sister was later diagnosed with cervical cancer and sadly passed away. In 2017, both Candy's aunt and mother were diagnosed with lung cancer and they both tragically died.

Victoria shared her feelings when she got the news, telling the Mirror: "And then all of a sudden I was a statistic and it hit me really hard that it feels very far away until it's right on your doorstep.

"So it's just, I guess, the Full Monty is a continuation of me wanting to express everything I've been feeling inside that I held for myself because whenever I do the talks and whenever I perform and that kind of stuff it's more for other people whereas this was for me, it was quite cathartic for me."

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