TV doctor Punam Krishan cried in her car, bed and shower after cancer diagnosis

Former Strictly Come Dancing star and TV doctor Punam Krishan has said she cried in her car, bed and shower after she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

The 42-year-old, who is known for her appearances on the BBC’s Morning Live, said on the programme she was “still navigating” life after her diagnosis five months ago, which she announced on Instagram on Sunday.

Speaking on Friday’s episode of the BBC One show, Krishan said: “I had my wonderful husband, my family, I had a small host of friends I trusted that allowed me the space to crumble and fall apart when I needed to.

“I cried a lot, I cried in the car, I cried in bed, cried in the shower.

“Nature became the biggest comfort for me, I’ve always loved nature, but I feel that when you’re going through pain, sometimes nature is the space that is big enough to hold you there.

“My dog was the best thing ever because he got me up and out every day, and we went for walks, and I just had this insane connection to nature, and all you do is you just take the next step, and that’s all.”

Krishan said in her Instagram post she had completed treatment and was now “healing, grateful, relieved” and “still shaken”.

On Morning Live she added: “Once you’ve come out of the treatment, that isn’t the end of it, and I think a lot of people think from the outside that once the treatment’s done, you’re ok, but you’ve got this newfound sense of identity.

“You’re learning to trust your body again, you’re learning to walk a new path, it’s got this hyper alertness and vigilance, and you’re just learning… the nervous system still needs time to calm down and be like, ‘you’re safe, you’re okay, everything’s going to be ok’, and we’re still navigating…

“I don’t know how long this journey is, but I think that it’s definitely given me an insight like never before of just what it looks like to live it.

“I wish I didn’t have to go through that, but I think that having been on the other side of the consultation table, I’m looking forward to just getting back to really holding my patients again with a newfound like, ‘I get it, I get it’.”

She went on to say she now feels as if she has a “deeper understanding” of the impact a cancer diagnosis has on patients.

Krishan added: “When you receive a diagnosis like cancer, in that moment, it’s two things that you deal with.

“One is the shock of the diagnosis itself, and then there is the trauma that comes from having your mortality being presented to you… all you can do is walk the next step.

“It’s not just you that receives that diagnosis, your family, your partner, your kids, your friends, they received that diagnosis, and my GP was incredible.

“I am so blessed to have had the best NHS treatment, I know that people can moan about it, I work in the NHS, but my GP was incredible, she listened, she referred me, I was put on the urgent cancer pathway.

“I’ve had the most extraordinary breast care team and breast cancer nurse, which is such a blessing, always there, oncology teams, and it’s not just the clinical expertise, but they hold you with so much kindness and compassion.”

Krishan was the fifth celebrity to be eliminated from the BBC dancing show in 2024, when she was partnered with professional dancer Gorka Marquez.

The NHS says the symptoms of breast cancer include a lump or swelling in the breast, a change in breast skin, a change in size or shape of breasts or nipples, or a pain in the breast or armpit which does not go away.