Former Coronation Street star Victoria Ekanoye, known for playing Angie Appleton on the ITV soap between 2017 and 2019, has shared a heartbreaking admission about her battle with breast cancer. The actress, who played the daughter-in-law of fan favourite Mary Taylor (Patti Clare), revealed that her experience has profoundly changed her perspective on life and work.
Diagnosis After Motherhood
Victoria was diagnosed with breast cancer, specifically ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), in October 2021. This came just months after the birth of her son, Theo, whom she calls her "miracle" baby. She discovered a lump in her breast while breastfeeding him, which led to a double mastectomy and breast reconstruction surgery.
Reflecting on how her outlook has shifted, she said: "I'm very acutely aware of how quickly my son is growing up, and my time with him I can never get back. So I'm really strategic about the work I do. It has also spurred me on to develop my own projects, because I want to be able to dictate when and where I work, take him along with me sometimes, and put the correct messages into the projects I'm doing that will then go out to the world."
Anger Before Fear
Victoria's diagnosis came during the Covid lockdowns, adding to the stress of an already challenging period. She admitted: "The main emotion I felt was anger before anything else. Not fear or worry. Anger. I thought: really? COVID is here, we've just had a baby, it's already tough, we had a really tough birth, my partner wasn't sure if he was going to go home with either one of us."
She continued: "Theo was six months old when I found the lump, and I was breastfeeding. I have a really strong family history, I'm the fifth person in my family to develop breast cancer, my mum being one of them. And then my partner's mum had just been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. I kind of thought: what will my partner do if he loses me and his mum? It's unimaginable."
Staying Strong for Family
Two key factors kept her going through the ordeal. She confessed: "One was: I have far too much to achieve. I have a baby to raise, and I'm a huge cog in our whole machine. I had to be strong enough to get through it so that nobody else needed to worry. And the other thing is I refuse to become a victim of what happens to me. I'm not a result of my adversities — I'm a result of my triumphs."
She added: "I wanted this to be the same. I had an incredible support network: my mum, my sister, my partner, my best friends. They knew I'd try to do everything alone, they knew I was stubborn. But they just created that safety net underneath me, just in case I fell. And I'm forever grateful for that."
Leaving a Legacy
Victoria also spoke about her desire to leave a positive legacy for her son. She said: "We're very lucky as artists — whether we act, sing, direct or produce — to be able to send messages out to the world in our own little way, make it a bit better than it was when we arrived. I really want my son to grow up and be able to have a smile on his face when he sees whatever legacy I've left."
"He's incredibly special, and he's been through a lot to be here. He's a huge driving force for me," she concluded in her chat with BestBettingSites.
