The actress first announced she was battling stage three bowel cancer during an interview more than a year ago, revealing doctors found two tumors in her large intestine.
- Feb 20, 2020
AceShowbiz - Dame Julie Walters has been given the all clear after being diagnosed with stage three bowel cancer 18 months ago.
The actress, who turns 70 on Saturday, February 22, went public with her health battle during an interview with the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire, revealing she was told the news after doctors found two tumours in her large intestine.
After undergoing chemotherapy and surgery to remove 30 cm from her colon, Walters is now "really well", and added: "I've just had a scan, and I know that I'm clear."
The "Mamma Mia!" star first went to the doctor with indigestion, stomach pain and vomiting, and was referred to a gastric surgeon. She underwent a CT scan, and was on the set of "The Secret Garden" when she received a call from the specialist asking her to come in.
She was then told they'd found an abnormality which they feared was cancer.
"I was still thinking, 'That's ridiculous, he must have made a mistake'. I couldn't believe it," she recalled.
Walters also remembered the moment she told her husband Grant Roffey about the cancer, adding: "I'll never forget his face. Tears came into his eyes."
But it was after the surgery, when she came round from her anaesthetic, that she had the odd experience of "feeling absolutely marvellous".
"I said to the night nurse, 'Is Love Island on?' - because we were talking about it - and we watched it together," she smiled. "It was only a couple of days later I thought, I feel exhausted, and a bit low actually."
While Walters is now fighting fit once more, she admitted the health struggle had led her to rethink about her future in the acting industry.
Asked if "The Secret Garden" might be her last film, the acting veteran replied: "It would have to be something I'm really engaged with (to take another role on)."
"I'm not saying I'll never act again. But I certainly don't think I can go back to (a film that requires working) six days a week, five in the morning till seven o'clock at night."
