Debbie McGee has breast cancer.
Debbie McGee
The 60-year-old TV star - who is the widow of magician Paul Daniels - had surgery last week to remove two tumours after doctors found cancerous tissue in her left breast during a routine screening.
Debbie believes her cancer was triggered by stress and grief after Paul died from an incurable brain tumour in 2016 at the age of 77.
She told The Sun: "Stress, I think caused mine. I've never been through the stress I've been through since I lost Paul.
"Grief hits you in so many ways you're not expecting. It's not all about sadness."
Debbie revealed a close friend of hers, who lost her husband four years ago, has also been diagnosed with cancer and both of them believe the stress from the death of their spouses is to blame.
Debbie was diagnosed in October and after successful surgery this month feels like the "luckiest person in the world" as doctors have given her the all-clear.
And although Debbie still misses Paul, she feels that she is finally moving on from her devastating grief.
She said: "I'm fine now. I've really got to a really good place. I just think the last two and a half years were so, so stressful. I'd never dealt with anything as big as that before."
Last year, Debbie revealed she has started thinking about dating again and if she was to fall in love with another man she would consider tying the knot again and says competing on 'Strictly Come Dancing' in 2017 helped her to regain her confidence and get a new lease
She said: "I am just enjoying my life. I've male friends that have taken me to dinner or for drinks - and that is lovely. I would marry again if I met the right person but I am not looking.
"I think if you look you don't get it. It's like waiting for the kettle to boil and it never boils."
Debbie was spotted in a West End show by a BBC producer who asked her to appear on 'The Paul Daniels Magic Show' - which ran from 1979 to 1994 - as his assistant. The pair then fell in love and married in April 1988.
Tagged in Paul Daniels