Love Island star Demi Jones has compared her upcoming appearance on Strictly The Real Full Monty to therapy as she stripped off for charity amid her ongoing cancer battle.
The 23-year-old reality star – who featured on the 2020 series of Love Island – revealed back in May that she had been diagnosed with Thyroid cancer.
She made the discovery after becoming concerned about a lump on her neck which she had examined by medical experts who confirmed it was a cancerous growth.
Demi is set to feature on ITV’s charity strip show Strictly The Real Full Monty next week alongside Diversity star Ashley Banjo, Loose Women's Brenda Edwards, model Christine McGuinness, athlete Colin Jackson, singer Duncan James, married ex-Strictly stars James and Orla Jordan, EastEnders ' Laila Morse, Homes Under The Hammer host Martin Roberts, and Love Island 2021's Teddy Soares.
Speaking of her involvement ahead of the show airing, Demi opened up about her cancer diagnosis, ongoing treatment and her feelings about baring all on TV to FUBAR Radio.
Giving a health update, Demi told show hosts Bobby Norris and Stephen Leng on Access All Areas: “I’ve had to have multiple surgeries, I’ve had some radiation treatment and everything.
“It has been difficult, especially with my mental health. Being in the public eye in general is difficult and straining at times, let alone dealing with my illness and stuff in private as well.”
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She said: "To be around people that have gone through it and have similar experiences, for me it was like a form of counselling.”
She added: “I feel like I’ve got more comfort and understanding for what I’ve gone through since filming The Full Monty than I have from friends and family because sometimes it’s like, ‘how do you talk about it to people?’”
The reality star said taking part in Strictly The Real Full Monty has given her greater perspective on her health battle.
She said: “I feel like I’ve got more comfort and understanding for what I’ve gone through since filming The Full Monty than I have from friends and family because sometimes it’s like, ‘how do you talk about it to people?’”
The Love Island star also had lovely things to say about her fellow Strictly The Real Full Monty co-stars.
She gushed: “We literally bonded so well because all of our stories brought us together. I think the common denominator in most of our stories was that we weren’t referred quickly enough, or our cancer wasn’t spotted quickly enough, so we all bonded in that sense.”
Admitting it was unusual to strip naked alongside people she has looked up to for decades, Demi went on: “It was so weird we had the first weekend which was this bootcamp where we all met each other and bearing in mind all these people I’ve grown up with. So to me, I was like ‘oh my god, it’s Mo from EastEnders!’ I was so excited.
“People say to me, ‘You’ve been in a bikini on TV, you’ll be fine’. But I’m still subconscious, I’m still a young girl. You’ve got all this pressure from Instagram and social media on what you’re supposed to look like, so for me to still get my bits out and all my wobbly bits, it’s still scary”.
Going into more detail about her own cancer battle, Demi said she’s hoping to get an update on the success of her treatment this week.
She said: “I’m literally just waiting on my results actually to find out if I’m cancer free and if it’s gone, so fingers crossed I’m on the other side of it now.”
She also confessed her diagnosis has put a dampener on her outlook, explaining: “I keep describing it as like a dark cloud. So as much as I’m getting on with my life and am excited for Christmas, it still lingers over you thinking like ‘what if’.”
“I really hope that I hear before the end of the year, I just wanna know. I think the waiting is the hardest part.”
Strictly The Real Full Monty will air on ITV at 9pm on 13th & 14th December – and you can listen to Demi’s full interview with Access All Areas on FUBAR Radio now.
