Australian comedian Judith Lucy has revealed that she has been diagnosed with breast cancer and is preparing to undergo a double mastectomy.
The 58-year-old shared the news in a video posted on Instagram, saying she had received an email from BreastScreen Australia about three weeks earlier after a mammogram produced a “weird” result.
“Long story short, I’ve got breast cancer,” Lucy said.
She explained that she had initially waited before speaking publicly because she wanted to understand more about her diagnosis. A lumpectomy last Friday then found further cancer, she said.
Lucy described the cancer as “relatively non-aggressive” and praised her medical team for acting quickly and detecting the disease at an early stage.
Although only one breast is cancerous, she has decided to have both removed next Friday.
“I said, while you’re there, let’s get rid of the other one because, you know something, I have had 40 years of, if I do say so myself, large and spectacular breasts. You had your chance, fellas,” she joked.
She added: “I think I’m quite fine with going bra-free for my last chapter, and my last chapter is going to be very long and healthy.”
Judith Lucy urges women to attend mammograms
Lucy also encouraged women to keep up with regular mammograms and health check-ups as she discussed her treatment.
Her announcement came weeks after the release of her book, Well, Well, Well … My Wellness Odyssey From Psychics To Psychedelics And Beyond, which explores her experiences and views on wellbeing.
Addressing the timing, she said: “The point of the book is that there are no quick fixes, and we should all be living differently.”
“I think we can safely say that the book that has come out is volume one,” she said, adding that she was “in shock” but “OK”.
Lucy began her stand-up career in the late 1980s and became a cast member of The Late Show in the 1990s. She has worked on ABC’s The Weekly With Charlie Pickering since 2019 and has also appeared on The Mick Molloy Show, Rove, Studio 10, The Project and Hughesy, We Have A Problem.
She has published four books, while previously speaking openly about undergoing a faecal microbiota transplant to treat long-term gut problems.
