A star of Strictly Come Dancing has opened up about their ’emotionally exhausting’ battle with cancer, reflecting upon one of the first times they knew something was wrong
Strictly star and actress Alex Kingston has opened up about her cancer diagnosis and the impact of the treatment from a physical and psychological perspective.
Alex, 62, appeared on the latest series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2025 as part of a successful career as an actress on both stage and screen.
Speaking on the Experience Is Everything with Saga podcast, Alex opened up about when she was diagnosed with cancer, her approach to it, and how she felt after the treatment.
Alex, who was diagnosed with uterine cancer in 2024, talked about the impact of the radiation therapy treatment she underwent, alongside the hysterectomy to treat the condition.
She said: “Radiation therapy, it’s tiring, but it’s more tiring because you’ve got to do it every single day. You can’t really focus on anything else; it takes so much time out of your day and it’s emotionally exhausting. Once I was through that, I felt like superwoman.”
Alex also admitted that the diagnosis came as a surprise, with the first noticeable symptom making itself known to her when she suffered a haemorrhage while on stage performing a play.
The star, who also played River Song in Doctor Who, added that she genuinely didn’t think she had cancer, but said this meant that when she received the diagnosis it helped her, as she hadn’t been dwelling on the situation for too long.
She recalled: “We had this bright white stage floor. I was in a scene where we were surrounding Mary Boleyn, who’s about to give birth to Henry VIII’s child. Whilst this scene is going on and I’m standing at the head of the bed, I started haemorrhaging.
“I absolutely did not think I had cancer. I was about to do another job and I had pull out when the diagnosis then did eventually come through. So that was a shock.
“But I think because I was so not prepared, it happened so fast, that actually, in a funny sort of way, I didn’t have time to be scared because I hadn’t mulled over it. I hadn’t dwelled on it, I just sort of dealt with it.”
Alex also touched on she felt at the time, revealing that her fellow cast members were “very supportive”.
She added: “I wasn’t embarrassed at all. I didn’t know what was happening and, certainly, when it was happening on stage, I was more concerned about the rest of the actors being freaked out and embarrassed.
“But you know, the thing is, actors on the whole, we’re very supportive of one another.”