Julia Bradbury reveals fears prompted by breast cancer diagnosis

Broadcaster Julia Bradbury has said she was unsure whether she would ever travel or wear a bikini again following her breast cancer diagnosis.

The former Countryfile presenter, 51, underwent a mastectomy in October during which her breast plus two lymph glands were removed before reconstruction took place.

She spoke to Hello! magazine from Mauritius where she was on holiday with her partner Gerry and their three children, Zephyrus, 10, and seven-year-old twins Xanthe and Zena.

She said: “I have this feeling of embracing everything now, grabbing everything that life has to offer with open arms.

“I wasn’t sure that I would ever travel again – and certainly wasn’t sure whether I’d wear a bikini ever again.”

Bradbury said she had always appreciated the “healing power of nature” and did so even more now.

“I’m still at the acute end of coming through my diagnosis and coming to terms with everything, so life is very heightened,” she said.

“The skies are a deeper shade of blue, the patterns of nature are more striking than usual.

“I’m taking it all in.”

Bradbury said she was using her illness as an opportunity to “reset” her emotional and physical health and now practises meditation and gratitude every day, sleeps at least eight hours each night and has cut out almost all alcohol.

She added: “It will be a long time before you find me dancing on tables again – and I love dancing on tables.”

Bradbury also told how she had promised at the beginning of the holiday to agree to any of her children’s requests, from swimming to trekking or eating ice cream but only one a day.

She added: “They are this size for such a short time: you blink and they’re gone.

“I want to enjoy every one of those moments and they’re even more magnified and precious now.”

Read the full interview in Hello! magazine, out now.