BBC newsreader Jane Hill revealed on social media in May that she had been secretly battling breast cancer – and now the 50-year-old has admitted that she underwent a mastectomy, but decided against having reconstructive surgery. Appearing on Lorraine on Wednesday morning, Jane explained why she decided against the procedure, admitting it simply "wasn't right" for her. Speaking to stand-in host Christine Lampard, Jane said: "'I had a mastectomy in November. I decided against reconstruction surgery. It wasn’t right for me, a reconstruction requires multiple surgeries."
She added: "I didn’t want to put myself through anymore anesthetic. I do have a massive great scar across my chest." Jane also credited her healthy lifestyle for helping her recover from her operation. "Having lived a healthy lifestyle helped with my recovery," she added: "I’m a regular gym-goer and I definitely realised with hindsight it has helped my recovery. Eating broccoli for 25 years has helped."
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Jane returned to work at the BBC in May after last appearing on our screens in November. Revealing why she decided to keep her diagnosis a secret until her return, she explained to Christine: "I left work at the end of November. You just don’t know how it’s going to go. You hope the operation is going to go well. My surgeon was amazing. On the day of my diagnosis what she made me do was walk away thinking about all the positives in my case. I was super lucky Christine. I didn’t want to start talking about it on social media in case there was hiccup. It wasn’t right for me to do updates."
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While Jane may have kept her cancer secret from the public, she was very open with her friends, family, and colleagues, revealing: "I wasn’t private about it to any friends or family. I said to my boss do tell the staff, I don’t want staff speculating why I wasn’t in the newsroom. So he told staff in an email once I’d left work at the end of November. You just never know how it’s going to go. You hope for the best."
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