Elle Macpherson kept a low profile as she was spotted out and about for the first time since controversially revealing she refused chemotherapy during her secret battle with cancer.
The Australian model, 60, battled breast cancer seven years ago but revealed the diagnosis for the first time in an interview Monday about her upcoming memoir.
Elle, who is in remission, told how she went against the advice of 32 doctors and the wishes of her family by refusing chemotherapy after undergoing a lumpectomy.
Just hours after the divisive comments emerged, Elle was spotted making a low-key appearance at Sydney Airport as she caught a flight out of the city.
She kept her head down during the sighting and opted for a relaxed ensemble as she looked ready to travel.
Elle cut a chic figure in a white T-shirt and baggy blue jeans with black cross detailing, which she paired with a pair of black slip-on heels.
She draped a navy blazer over her shoulders and shielded her eyes with a pair of dark oval sunglasses as she opted to keep a low profile during the outing.
The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit icon carried her essentials in a leather-look crossbody bag and accessorized with an array of silver jewelry.
Elle Macpherson kept a low profile as she was spotted out and about for the first time since controversially revealing she refused chemotherapy during her secret battle with cancer.
Just hours after revealing she was diagnosed with cancer seven years ago, Elle was spotted making a low-key appearance at Sydney Airport as she took a flight out of the city.
Elle had been visiting her native Australia for a series of promotional activities in Sydney ahead of the release of her memoir, Life, Lessons, and Learning to Trust Yourself.
In the statement, Elle revealed her secret battle with breast cancer and told how she went against the advice of 32 doctors to refuse chemotherapy treatment.
After undergoing a lumpectomy seven years ago, Elle was diagnosed with HER2-positive estrogen-receptive intraductal carcinoma, a type of breast cancer.
After the lumpectomy (a surgery to remove the breast cancer while leaving most of the breast tissue in place), doctors advised Elle to undergo a mastectomy with radiation, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, and breast reconstruction.
However, Elle decided to go against traditional medicine, saying it was “a wonderful exercise in being true to myself, trusting myself, and trusting the nature of my body and the course of action I had chosen.”
Talking with Women’s weekly On her diagnosis, she shared: “It was a shock, it was unexpected, it was confusing, it was discouraging in many ways and it really gave me the opportunity to dig deep into my inner sense to find a solution that would work for me.”
She kept her head down during the sighting and opted for a relaxed ensemble as she looked ready to travel.
Elle cut a chic figure in a white T-shirt and baggy blue jeans with black cross detailing, which she paired with a pair of black slip-on heels.
She draped a navy blazer over her shoulders and shielded her eyes with a pair of dark oval sunglasses as she opted to keep a low profile during the outing.
Elle, who was married to Jefferey Soffer at the time before divorcing four months later, said she prayed and meditated on a beach in Miami and concluded she didn’t want to treat her cancer with pharmaceuticals, but rather “an intuitive, holistic, heart-guided approach.”
“Saying no to standard medical solutions was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. But saying no to my own inner sense would have been even harder,” she explained, adding later that she thought chemotherapy and surgery were too “extreme.”
The model, known as The Body in her heyday, said “people thought I was crazy” but she still went ahead with a treatment plan that “resonated” with her, “addressing emotional and physical factors associated with breast cancer.”
Elle received ‘holistic’ treatment for her cancer at a house in Phoenix, Arizona, which she rented for eight months under the guidance of her family doctor, a naturopathic doctor, a holistic dentist, an osteopath, a chiropractor and two therapists.
While left alone in the house, Elle said she spent her days “focusing and dedicating every minute to healing.”
While left alone in the house, Elle said she spent her days “focusing and dedicating every minute to healing.”
Elle is now in “clinical remission” – what she prefers to call “absolute wellness” – but said her sons Flynn, 26, and Cy, 21, had mixed reactions to her unusual approach to the cancer diagnosis.
Her youngest son was fully supportive of his famous mother because he believed chemotherapy was “a kiss of death,” but the eldest had his reservations.
“Flynn, who is more conventional, was not comfortable with my choice. But he is my son and he would support me in everything and love me despite my decisions, even if he didn’t agree with them,” she said.
Elle added that her ex Arki Busson, who she split from in 2005 after having two children, “didn’t agree” with her methods but wrote her a letter telling her how “proud” he was of the “courage she was showing”.
Typical cancer treatment revolves around surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
Cancer Research UK notes that some patients also use complementary therapies to help them feel better, alleviate the side effects of these treatments and improve their quality of life.
Aromatherapy, acupuncture, herbal medicine, massage therapy, visualization and yoga are some of the most common examples, she said.
However, alternative therapies including shark cartilage supplements and the Gerson therapy (which involves following an organic vegetarian diet and undergoing up to five coffee enemas a day) have been used instead of medical treatment.
There is no scientific or medical evidence that these therapies can cure cancer.
Some could even be dangerous, causing harmful side effects or interacting with medical treatment, according to Cancer Research UK.
In February 2017, when Elle made the decision to pursue a more holistic treatment, she married Jeffrey, but they eventually split in June.
She then dated disgraced former doctor and anti-vaxxer Andrew Wakefield, whom she met at a “Doctors Who Rock” awards ceremony in Orlando, Florida, in November of that year.
Elle is believed to have split from Andrew (whose discredited research linking the MMR vaccine to autism made him a pariah) in 2020.
The model publicly supported her boyfriend during the Covid outbreak, claiming the pandemic was a “divine moment” to promote the anti-vaccine campaign.
In a video obtained by the Mail, Andrew introduced her as “my girlfriend” ahead of a US screening of his latest anti-vaccination propaganda offering.
Speaking to an audience in North Carolina, he said, ‘You made this film during Covid, and it’s interesting because it’s such a beautiful and sacred time when you watch the film, because it’s so pertinent and so relevant…
“And may it come at this divine time when vaccination and mandatory vaccination are on everyone’s lips.”
It was the first time the model-turned-businesswoman publicly acknowledged her relationship and backed her partner’s activism.
Andrew, originally from Berkshire, was struck off the medical register in 2010 after his research proving the alleged link between MMR vaccines and autism was exposed as an “elaborate fraud”.
His false claims led to a decline in vaccinations among children and new outbreaks of measles.