ALI Bastian has revealed she’s on brutal medication that ‘packs a punch’ after her breast cancer battle.
The former Hollyoaks star was diagnosed with stage II breast cancer in September 2024 and underwent gruelling chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy.
Ali announced she was cancer-free in March 2025 but a year on, she is still coming to terms with what she went through, and taking medication to prevent it returning.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun Online via WhichBingo, Ali said: “It’s so brutal. It’s a hell of a treatment pathway, and one you feel so conflicted about — you’re so grateful it exists, but at the same time it really takes its toll on your body, your mind, everything.
“By the end of it, it’s hard to even find the words. It just strips you back — everything about you. Cancer affects every facet of your life, your being, your identity.
“I felt more broken down than I’d ever felt when I reached the end of chemo, and I had my mastectomy afterwards. I remember thinking, where am I in all of this? Who am I? You feel completely stripped back.”
INNER STRENGTH
Ex-Hollyoaks’ Ali Bastian shares emotional update one year after mastectomy
JUST STUNNING
Ali Bastian says she ‘feels more like me’ as she glams up after breast cancer
Ali, 44, continued: “Then I got through radiotherapy, and slowly the rebuilding begins. I was fortunate to move into what they call survivorship — coming out the other side — though I’m on a lot of preventative medication, which takes some getting used to because that packs a punch as well.”
As well as the physical toll going through cancer treatment can take on a person, Ali also spoke about the strain it can place on an individual’s mental health.
Discussing how she managed to stay mentally strong, she admitted: “I didn’t always. I don’t think you always can.
“It’s a challenging one when people say, ‘Oh, you’re so strong, you’re so brave,’ because you think — I’m not.
“Nobody chooses this. You’re brave because you have to be. You’re in absolute survival mode, the rawest kind.”
Thankfully, Ali had her husband David and their two children around her, as well as friends and family to help lift her during her darkest days.
She said: “When you’re going through something like this, only some people can climb down into the hole with you and put their arms around you.
“Cancer is confronting, and not everybody knows what to say or how to show up. That’s part of what makes it feel so lonely.
“But the people who were just there for me, even when they didn’t know what to say or do — I’m so grateful for them.
“They’re the ones who kept me strong and got me through it. They probably saved my life, actually.”
What are the signs of breast cancer?
Signs and symptoms
Stay alert to symptoms of breast cancer which include:
- A lump or swelling in the breast, upper chest or armpit
- A change to the skin, such as puckering or dimpling
- A change in the colour of the breast – the breast may look red or inflamed
- A nipple change, for example, it has become pulled in (inverted)
- Rash or crusting around the nipple
- Unusual liquid (discharge) from either nipple
- Changes in the size or shape of the breast
On its own, pain in your breasts is not usually a sign of breast cancer. But look out for pain in your breast or armpit that’s there all or almost all the time.
Although rare, men can get breast cancer. The most common symptom of breast cancer in men is a lump in the chest area.
Check your breasts
There’s no special way to check your breasts and you do not need any training. At Breast Cancer Now, they say, it’s as simple as TLC: Touch, Look, Check:
- Touch your breasts: can you feel anything new or unusual?
- Look for changes: does anything look different to you?
- Check any new or unusual changes with a GP