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Supermodel Elle MacPherson shocked fans with the announcement of her breast cancer diagnosis earlier this week, as well as her controversial decision not to undergo chemotherapy treatment.
But also surprising — for a woman who has spent most of her adult life in the public eye — is that MacPherson, now 60, kept her illness a secret for seven years.
However, many celebrities in the public eye choose to keep their cancer battles private and separate from their careers.
Others recovered from the disease decades ago, so they rarely talk about their experience.
Here, MailOnline reveals the celebrities you might be surprised to learn have had cancer.
Elle Macpherson has revealed she secretly battled breast cancer seven years ago but is now in remission after refusing chemotherapy.
Zoolander actor Ben Stiller opened up about his battle with prostate cancer in 2016, after keeping it private for two years.
The 58-year-old revealed he had no specific symptoms or family history of cancer when his doctor found an “aggressive” tumor during a routine test in 2014.
On his doctor’s advice, he underwent surgery to remove his prostate, a walnut-sized gland located below the bladder, around the urethra in men, clearing him of the cancer.
He admitted in an interview with Today in 2016 that he suffers from some of the common side effects of a prostatectomy, which sometimes include incontinence and problems with sexual function.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men, with more than 50,000 new diagnoses and 12,000 deaths each year.
In the United States, the disease kills 26,000 men each year.
Ben Stiller revealed he had no specific symptoms or family history of cancer when his doctor found an “aggressive” tumor during a routine test in 2014.
Sofia Vergara
Modern Family and new TV miniseries Griselda star Sofia Vergara only spoke publicly about her cancer battle two decades after treatment.
The actress, now 52, was diagnosed with thyroid cancer at age 28 after doctors discovered a lump in her neck during a routine check-up.
But she didn’t share it publicly until a Stand Up to Cancer broadcast in 2021.
The following year she shared a photograph of herself taken at her first acting class after receiving treatment.
In the 2022 post she wrote: ‘At 28, ‘cancer’ was not a word I expected to hear.’
‘It was just a routine check-up. But the doctors found a lump in my throat and that word became part of my story.
“I spent countless hours in radiation treatments and eventually surgery. Today I can say that I am a cancer survivor.”
The actress, now 52, was diagnosed with thyroid cancer at age 28 after doctors discovered a lump in her neck during a routine check-up.
Sofia Vergara reflected on her past battle with cancer in a post shared on her Instagram
The thyroid is a gland located in the front of the neck that produces hormones that control how the body uses energy. The hormones produced by the thyroid affect almost every organ in the body and control many of the body’s most important functions.
Thyroid cancer may not cause any symptoms at first, but as the cancer grows it can cause neck swelling, voice changes, difficulty swallowing, a lump that can be felt through the skin of the neck, and pain in the neck and throat.
It is most common in people between the ages of 30 and 60, and women are up to three times more likely to develop it than men.
There are about 3,900 new cases each year in the UK and about 44,020 in the US.
Helen McCory
Peaker Blinders and Harry Potter star Helen McCory swore friends to secrecy as she battled cancer treatment while continuing to do charity work just weeks before her death aged 52.
The actress, who died of breast cancer in April 2021, appeared on television to promote the Prince’s Trust just six weeks before she died.
She also shared her secret struggle with “very, very few people,” according to Carrie Cracknell, who directed Helen McCrory in a stage production of Medea.
McCrory as Polly Gray in Peaky Blinders in 2019. A friend said today that she decided to keep her cancer a secret to avoid people focusing on it during her career.
Helen McCrory was married to fellow actor Damian Lewis since 2007 and shared two children with him: daughter Manon, 14, and son Gulliver, 13 (the couple is pictured in February 2020).
McCory, who has been married to fellow actor Damian Lewis since 2007 and shares two children with him, wanted to focus on her family and charity work, as well as her acting, rather than her illness.
Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world.
In the UK, there are more than 55,000 new cases each year and the disease claims the lives of 11,500 women. In the US, it affects 266,000 people each year and kills 40,000.
The first common symptom is a painless lump in the breast, although most are not cancerous and are fluid-filled cysts, which are benign.
The first place that breast cancer usually spreads is to the lymph nodes in the armpit. If this happens, a swelling or lump will form in the armpit.
Luis Walsh
Former X Factor star Louis Walsh also revealed he was diagnosed with a “rare” type of blood cancer four years after his 2020 health scare.
The 72-year-old opened up about his health while starring on Celebrity Big Brother this year with Levi and Ekin-Su and confessed that no one knew he was ill.
When asked by the couple how he spent the lockdown, he said: “I was sick and I don’t think anyone knew I was sick. I had cancer. A mild version, a rare one.”
Louis Walsh revealed he was diagnosed with a “rare” type of cancer in 2020 when he spoke about the major health scare for the first time in March.
She was diagnosed with Waldenström macroglobulinemia (also known as lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma), which is a rare form of low-grade lymphoma (a type of bone marrow cancer).
It is associated in most cases with the presence of an excessive amount of abnormal protein in the blood.
But he has since been given the all-clear after receiving treatment in Dublin.
Symptoms of this rare cancer include feeling fatigued, looking pale, bruising easily and weight loss, according to Macmillan.
In the UK, around 350 people are diagnosed with this type of cancer each year, while in the US it affects between 1,000 and 1,500 people.
Jonnie Irwin
The A Place In The Sun star confirmed in November that her lung cancer had spread to her brain after she was first diagnosed with the disease in 2020.
He passed away in February at the age of just 50.
But before his death he revealed how he kept his battle with cancer a secret for two years to “pay the bills” and take care of his family.
The A Place In The Sun star confirmed in November that her lung cancer had spread to her brain after she was first diagnosed with the disease in 2020.
The reason Jonnie Irwin kept his lung cancer diagnosis a secret for two years is revealed
She told The Sun: “I had to live with it as a secret. It was really hard to live with such a huge cloud hanging over me and pretending in front of everyone else.”
‘For the first year and a half I was able to work. Unfortunately, one of the companies claimed they couldn’t insure me and didn’t renew my contract. That left a huge hole in my income.
“I felt like I had been thrown into the dumpster. Within a week I was hired and then I could see someone else doing my job.”
Cancer that has spread to another part of the body is called a secondary cancer or metastasis, according to Cancer Research UK.
Not all lung cancers spread, but if cancer does spread there are certain parts of the body that it is more likely to spread to, including the brain, bones, and liver.
According to the NHS, headaches, seizures and vision and speech problems can be signs of a brain tumour.
Although coughing, shortness of breath and loss of appetite are symptoms of lung cancer.
