Michelle Heaton has praised Angelina Jolie for speaking out publicly about her double mastectomy. The Liberty X singer, who underwent the operation herself back in November to drastically reduce her risk of breast cancer, said it was "the most amazing thing" that the actress could have done. Speaking to HELLO! Online, Michelle also opens up on how she's progressed since her operation, how the public reacted to her decision, and how she manages to keep herself in shape.
I went through my mastectomy publicly… It was in order to gain some control. It would have gone public whether I had wanted it to or not, so at least by telling my side of the story, I gained some control in telling it how it is. I am very open about it… I talked about it very openly when I went through it and obviously Angelina Jolie has since come out and spoke about it, so I am reiterating a lot of what I went through because it is a hot topic at the moment. I was shocked that Angelina Jolie revealed her decision so publicly… I got woken up at 5am by DayBreak telling me she had gone public and asking me to come in and talk about it. I was in shock that she did it so publicly, but then on the flip-side that is the most amazing thing she could have done. By telling her story, she is saving lives. Once public figures start to talk about these issues, it brings it to light.
The reaction from the public was mostly positive… I'd say 80 per cent of people were positive, but I got the usual negativity from the people who couldn't understand me going public. But now Angelina has come forward, I think they’ve changed their minds. Now, I talk about it in the past tense… It is something I have got over now and am moving away from. What I did was prevent breast cancer – I slashed it from 85 per cent to around one or two per cent, so for me, whenever I talk about it, it is in a very positive light. I love keeping in shape. But with a baby, it's difficult to get to the gym… I tend to work out at home, five days a week. So what I do on Lorraine is teach them how to work out at home instead of having to go to the gym. I get up in the morning, have my black coffee and work out for as long as Faith allows me. Some mornings she allows 45 minutes, and other days I only get 10. You just have to do what you can – doing something is better than nothing. I am quite a strict dieter… I have a healthy diet Monday to Friday, and then on the weekend I enjoy myself, and that's how I maintain my figure. If I needed to lose weight, I wouldn't have my weekend. It is all about doing things in moderation and having the balance. I am almost 34 now, I've done every fad diet and the only thing that actually works is cutting out white carbs, sugars and alcohol, drinking plenty of water and replacing anything white with brown. Everybody knows the answer – there are no quick fixes. I really don't spend much money on beauty products…I think as long as you look after your skin then anything you have will do. I often think a lot of it is just packaging – it's more expensive because of the glossy packaging. In terms of my beauty essentials, I love an apricot scrub for exfoliation and Simple face wipes. I also love Kelo-Cote gel. Kelo-Cote gel has really helped my scars… I've got my scar under both breasts, I've got my caesarean scar and I've got my scar on my chest from my heart operation. Even though my double mastectomy scars are more prominent, the one on my chest is red and visible constantly – I had lots of comments about it. But since I started using the gel on my scars, it really has helped. Kelo-cote® is a clinically proven silicone gel scar reduction treatment available at selected pharmacies and private clinics.
