Michelle Heaton has said that it "kills her" to know that her children may have inherited the same cancer gene she has in a candid interview. The former Liberty X star opened up about her experiences of early menopause after having a hysterectomy in 2014, telling Lorraine Kelly that she's still "struggling".
The mum-of-two had an elective double mastectomy in 2012 and a hysterectomy two years later, after learning that she carries the BRCA2 gene mutation and had a high risk of developing cancer. Speaking about her health struggles in an interview on ITV's Lorraine, Michelle said: "Moments like this where I get to dress up...I get a little bit of me back on the outside. But what's going on underneath is far from it and I'm struggling.
Michelle opened up about her health struggles
"It's not easy. And obviously knowing that my children could potentially have to go through what I went through just kills me. I've had some really dark times - I'm still not over it." Michelle also said that writing her new book, Hot Flush: Motherhood, The Menopause and Me, was a type of therapy, although she felt "ashamed" when she read back some of the chapters detailing her behaviour following her surgery.
The singer said it "kills her" to think her children may inherit the cancer gene
"My rage makes my kids cry... I'm really ashamed of what I've had to write. There are moments in there when I'm ashamed," she said. "There are moments in there where I have been such a horrible person to my husband, to my kids, to my mum. I don’t like me. I've never gone through counselling but I wish I did - this has been my form of counselling."
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Michelle has been open about her health battles, and recently bared all for ITV's The Real Full Monty: Ladies' Night, to raise awareness for breast cancer. The singer chose to undergo surgery after finding out she had an 85 per cent risk of getting breast cancer and 40 per cent risk of ovarian cancer.