Clare Balding's 'nasty' cancer battle with fears for career
22.06.2024 - 08:21
/ ok.co.uk
Clare Balding first graced our screens with highlights from Royal Ascot back in 1995 and quickly galloped her way to the top as one of the country's leading sports reporters for the BBC and Channel 4. Last week she was also reporting on the royal spectacular Trooping the Colour, and is now back at work presenting coverage of the tennis from Queen's.
The BBC was forced to apologise to her back in 2013 after broadcasting a satirical panel debate about 'curing' Clare of being a lesbian. But the real hurdle for the now-53 year old star came in 2009, when she was faced with her biggest challenge – a diagnosis of thyroid cancer after discovering a cancerous cyst.
Through it all, Clare remained incredibly pragmatic, even cautioning those around her against feeling sorry for her.
Chatting candidly to the Daily Telegraph about her experience, she shared her straightforward approach: "I got diagnosed with something, and I am being treated for it. It does not make me brave, though. It just makes me quite practical".
Clare, who was civil partnered with her wife, Alice, back in 2006 before they married in 2015, also opened up about facing the terrifying reality of cancer, saying: "I am not going to deny that to hear the word 'cancer' is scary." She added: "It is. But I just decided not to worry about things. And I haven't.
I have kept going. I have not freaked out, cried a lot or felt 'woe is me.'" After her diagnosis, Clare didn't let the situation rein her in. She went through with having her thyroid gland removed and prepared for radioactive iodine treatment.
True to her steely character, her main concern wasn't for herself but for her voice, knowing full well the stakes of her broadcasting career.
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