Adele Roberts opens up about living with stoma and marriage plans after cancer diagnosis
Adele Roberts with her partner Kate Holderness. (Getty for DIVA/ Nicky J Sims)
BBC Radio 1 DJ Adele Roberts has opened up about living with a stoma and the unwavering support of her partner following her cancer diagnosis.
Roberts revealed that she had been diagnosed with bowel cancer last year and this week appeared on the cover of Women’s Health, proudly displaying her stoma bag.
She had surgery in October 2021 to remove a tumour in her bowel. She has been undergoing chemotherapy and now uses a stoma bag to collect her faeces, which she has named Audrey.
She told the magazine that her diagnosis has helped her “love her body more than ever”.
The bisexual radio and TV personality, who originally found fame in the Big Brother house, said: “Being diagnosed with cancer has meant I’ve learned to appreciate my body; be grateful that it works; be grateful they found the tumour in time to remove it and be grateful [that modern medicine means I can] have a stoma.
“I feel like I love my body more than ever.
“One in two of us will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in our lives and I think the more we can actually talk about it, the less negatively affected people will be mentally, if and when that happens.
“That’s why it means so much – as someone undergoing cancer treatment and with a visible stoma – to be on the cover of Women’s Health.”
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Adele Roberts says her partner Kate Holderness has been her ‘strength’ during cancer battle
Adele Roberts also opened up about how her illness has affected her relationships with partner Kate Holderness while speaking to Naga Munchetty on BBC Radio 5 Live.
She said: “We’ve just got stronger and closer and it’s made me realise what an incredible human she is.
“She’s been my strength and without her I don’t think I’d be this upbeat. I think it would have really got to me mentally… but every morning I see Kate I just feel blessed to wake up to her every single day.”
She explained that Holderness had “pretty much become her carer”, and added: “She’s gone above and beyond what a relationship should be and she’s been everything to me. She’s helped me dress my stoma. She’s cared for me. She’s been my nurse. She’s been my mentor. She really loves me. I’m going to have to marry her.
“I think I look up to her now. I always knew she was very special. And I knew she was a good person. But now… she is somebody that I look to for inspiration.”
