Brenda Edwards has been through more heartache than most people could even imagine, but the Loose Women star continues to show incredible strength and resilience

Brenda Edwards, the vivacious Loose Women panellist, is just as effervescent, humorous, passionate and fierce in real life. However, she’s not afraid to reveal her vulnerable side, occasionally taking a moment to gather herself, sometimes with tears, during an OK! photoshoot.

At 55, Brenda has experienced more than her fair share of heartache. She was orphaned at the tender age of four when her loving parents tragically died in a car accident just before Christmas.

In 2022, her world was shattered once again when her cherished son Jamal passed away unexpectedly at just 31 years old. In a few days, she will commemorate what would have been his 34th birthday.

Brenda herself has faced mortality head-on, having been diagnosed with stage three breast cancer in 2016 after discovering a pea-sized lump in her right breast. She endured six months of gruelling chemotherapy, which triggered early menopause, followed by a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery.

Brenda Edwards opens up for the OK! photoshoot ( 
Image:
OK!/Catherine Harbour)

Despite the immense pain and sorrow she has endured, Brenda remains optimistic and has somehow found the strength to use her experiences to support others. The musical theatre star, who rose to fame in 2005 after finishing fourth in The X Factor, has partnered with GenesisCare – the UK’s leading specialist cancer care provider – to raise awareness about secondary cancers, reports OK!.

Brenda, who thankfully didn’t experience the disease spreading further, is now using her voice to raise awareness about the symptoms. She’s courageously participating in a poignant exhibition that highlights the body areas most vulnerable to secondary cancers.

In a shocking revelation, it turns out that 72% of breast cancer survivors are unaware of where secondary breast cancer is most likely to manifest, and a staggering one in three don’t even know what secondary cancer is .

“I have to admit, I fell into that category myself, of not being aware of where in the body cancer can spread,” she admits openly. “It’s the last thing people are thinking of when you’re going through breast cancer and the treatment of chemotherapy or radiotherapy or the operations, and secondary cancer is the last thing on your mind.”

“And that’s what’s so beautiful about this exhibition. It’s very emotive, but it’s showing the body parts that can be affected [through photography]. So, for example, the bones can be affected, so a symptom is backache. Also the brain can be affected, you can suffer from headaches, and with your lungs, there’s someone holding their chest and coughing. It’s a powerful exhibition and a picture speaks a thousand words. It’s about raising awareness, which is something very important to me.”

Brenda, who was 46 at the time, got her diagnosis in 2016 after initially finding a lump months before. She admits that, like many others, she tried to ignore it, and her busy schedule performing as Motormouth Maybelle in ‘Hairspray The Musical’ kept her mind off things.

However, the lump made its presence known again one day while she was showering. “When I first felt it, it was what I can only describe as a frozen pea,” Brenda said.

“But this time it was more prominent. I immediately phoned my doctor and she referred me to my local hospital to have a mammogram, which then turned into a biopsy, which was really hard and difficult and a very emotional time for me. There was so much going on in my head, the first thing at the forefront of my mind was my children and ‘what if? ‘ I’m usually a positive person, let’s be joyful, you know? And then there was this cloud over me. It was two weeks of waiting [for the results] and that’s the worst two weeks of your life.”

Brenda Edwards bravely opens up ( 
Image:
OK!/Catherine Harbour)
Brenda, a mum who faced the harrowing ordeal of being diagnosed with stage three breast cancer, chose to shield her children Jamal and Tanisha from the initial worry by attending the consultation alone. Recalling the moment with emotion, she shared, “It was very upsetting. I was already thinking the worst. I asked my doctor if I could record what she was saying and she was fine with that. I just knew I wasn’t going to take in what she was going to tell me. And after she said ‘You’ve got stage three breast cancer’ nothing else went in. I just thought of my children, ‘I’ve got to tell my children,'” Brenda recounts the heart-wrenching experience of informing her kids, describing it as “the worst thing” and how they visibly paled upon hearing the news.

She explained her approach, “It was important for me to wait to hear what the diagnosis was and what the possibilities of treatment were before I spoke to my children,” highlighting the need to be prepared for their inevitable questions and to spare them the anxiety she endured.

Reflecting on her son’s reaction, Brenda said, “My son, he couldn’t, he wouldn’t speak. I told them, ‘Look, this isn’t going to change me. This isn’t going to be defining me. Do not worry about anything. I’m going to fight it.’ And that’s exactly what I did.”

Brenda has revealed that from the moment of her diagnosis, she refused to entertain dark thoughts and credits her will to see her children grow up as the source of her strength. .

“I’ve had a lot of tragedy in my life and you kind of learn to be resilient,” she reflects. “Because both of my parents died when I was so young, so I was determined not to let my children be orphaned. I always said that I wanted to get past the age that my parents were, because they were very young – 27 and 25 – so it just wasn’t an option for me. Cancer knocked on the wrong door.”

Throughout the tough chemotherapy treatments that followed, which led to hair loss, extreme fatigue, nausea, and melanonychia black discoloration of the nails Brenda stayed focused. After undergoing a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery, she saw her ordeal as the gateway to a “second chance at life”.

Brenda is all smiles ( 

Stunning: The Loose Woman star ( 
Image:
OK!/Catherine Harbour)

“With a sense of humour intact, she quips, “The surgeons took [tissue] from my stomach to [rebuild my breast] and I got a whole new belly button – it’s actually better than the belly button that I had!

I got a new breast and a new piece of life, and that’s the way that I look at it. It was like I had a second chance at life.

“I cut out sugar – I used to have a lot of sugar in my coffee, I don’t even want to admit it, but I had six sugars. Then I started to do my research. My son would too and he would read something and send it to me. I stopped eating processed foods, I started growing my own veg because I did research into pesticides, and I had a diet of spinach, because if it’s good for Popeye, it’s good for me! “.

As time marched on, Brenda found herself feeling fitter than ever before, with cancer nowhere in sight. Yet, come January, marking eight years since her initial cancer diagnosis, she discovered another lump by her collarbone.

It was then that Coleen Nolan, her workmate from Loose Women and dear pal, jumped in to offer unwavering support. “Coleen’s sister Bernie unfortunately died and her two sisters have breast cancer, so she knows,” Brenda says. “I asked her if she would come with me, she’s been through it with her family and she gets it. She’s naturally funny and we have such a great friendship and I wanted somebody to be with me that I knew would just take my mind off of it. It was a two-hour wait but thankfully nothing was there.”

Brenda acknowledges it’s not just Coleen who has been her bedrock; the entire Loose Women squad has been by her side. “All of them bring different things and I’m truly grateful to have that network of very strong power,” she exclaims. “We’re like a little family. They are a phenomenal set of women.”

Brenda also opened up about her poignant encounter with Sarah Ferguson, who has also faced a breast cancer diagnosis. Brenda recalls, “It was quite surreal because she said to me, ‘Oh my gosh, I know about you. I know about your story, and you are such a strong woman.’ It was around the time Jamal had passed and there was a lot I was going through when she came on.”

She reflected on the indiscriminate nature of cancer, saying, “With the Duchess it just shows that cancer doesn’t discriminate. It doesn’t matter where you are from, what background, what religious background, what your beliefs are, it just doesn’t discriminate.”

Brenda continued, “It’s also very sad about the King and Princess Kate, it just seems to be happening everywhere. We’ve had [Strictly star] Amy Dowden on the show and just last week we spoke to Myleene Klass whose friend Lauren [Laverne] is going through cancer. It’s inspiring to see other people and how they go through it and how they deal with it.”

When asked for advice for those facing or dealing with cancer, Brenda offered an unequivocal message: “Just go to your GP straight away,” she advises firmly. “You owe it to yourself to take action. As scary as it is, you’ve got a much better chance of survival if it’s caught early.”

“Please don’t be scared to have that conversation. If you’re not having a conversation with your GP, have a conversation with someone in your family or a friend and I guarantee that person will say the same thing I’m saying. Get yourself checked out and get rid of the fear.”

Brenda, looking ahead, is keen on continuing to spread positivity and inspire others. She established The Jamal Edwards Self Belief Trust in memory of her son, a music entrepreneur, to support the upcoming generation.

During our shoot, she proudly sported a wristband bearing his name as a tribute to him. It’s evident that he’s always on her mind. “It’s about empowering young people and unlocking the purpose in self-belief,” she says of the Trust. “We have paid internships for young people from underrepresented backgrounds and we’ve got the first sanctuary that’s being built and renovated to house young people. We’re building a community to bring everybody together. I don’t know what’s going on with the young, I just don’t know what’s going on in this world, with all the violence and the crime, but I want to try and find something positive to deflate that negative.”

In addition to her commitment to her charity work, Brenda is also directing Hairspray The Musical and shares with us her desire to take on more directing roles in the future.When asked about the prospect of joining a reality TV show, she beams, saying: “I’d love to do Strictly,” before adding, “I’ve not been asked to do that one yet but I’d love to do it. I couldn’t do the jungle though, I only eat green things now, remember.”