Victoria Derbyshire has spoken candidly about her breast cancer battle, revealing she believed she was going to die in the days following her diagnosis 10 years ago.
The BBC Newsnight presenter, now 56, was diagnosed in 2015 after noticing her right nipple "looked odd" - a small detail that turned out to be a symptom of a life-threatening illness.
Days later, doctors confirmed she had breast cancer. “I thought I was going to die,” she told The Sunday Times Magazine.
Derbyshire, a mother-of-two, went through a gruelling 301 days of treatment that included a mastectomy, reconstructive surgery, six sessions of chemotherapy and 30 rounds of radiotherapy.
She was eventually given the all-clear and told she had an 11% chance of recurrence.
Recalling those early days after the diagnosis, she admitted she went into “practical mode,” delaying telling her sons - Oliver and Joe - and husband Mark Sandell while she processed the news.
“When I didn’t know if my cancer was going to be treatable, we went on holiday to Barcelona,” she said. “I took a million pictures and made sure I was in all of them - just in case.”
Derbyshire said she hasn’t changed her lifestyle significantly since her recovery. “I still drink, I still eat what I want - I want to be normal like I used to be,” she said, reflecting on her decision not to overhaul her life out of fear.
“It hasn’t changed how I live. What it’s done is make me appreciate things in a quiet way - the sun on your face, the smell of my boys’ hair.”
She credits her husband, whom she married in 2018 after 17 years together, as being her rock during treatment. “He stepped up, big time,” she said. “While I was being treated, he was basically a single parent.” Mark accompanied her to chemo appointments, often reading newspapers aloud when she was too fatigued to concentrate.
The couple had been engaged since before their first child but had never formally married - until her illness became a catalyst. Two years after being given the all-clear, she took part in ITV’s The Real Full Monty, stripping off on live television to raise cancer awareness.
Derbyshire also competed in I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! in 2020 and has remained a high-profile advocate for cancer awareness and early detection.
As the 10-year anniversary of her diagnosis approaches, Derbyshire said she’ll mark the moment with a family holiday and a “big blowout celebration.” She’s glad her son Oliver - now 21 - doesn’t remember the details of her illness, but instead recalls “how much the hospital parking cost.”
The veteran journalist, who lives in Surrey with her family, said the experience gave her a new perspective. “When my BBC show was axed in 2020, I was gutted - but cancer teaches you perspective. I’d already coped with worse.”
