Celebrity Traitors star Hannah Fry has revealed she underwent a hysterectomy after being diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2020. The mathematician and author, 42, shared the news on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, describing the experience as "horrific" and saying she feels "unbelievably lucky" after recently receiving her "five-year clear".
Diagnosis and Treatment
Fry, who has two young daughters, was told she had cancer in 2020 after delaying her cervical screening during the pandemic. She explained that her GP called her back for another test and a biopsy, saying: "I was trying hard not to panic, but when they found it was in the lymphatic system… that was when it really started to come down."
Her chance of survival depended on how far the cancer cells had travelled through her lymphatic system. She said: "If it was in one, it would drop to a 60 per cent chance of survival and two – the odds would go against me, and it would be a 40 per cent chance."
Hospital Isolation and Recovery
Fry had her hysterectomy while isolated in hospital during lockdown, and was later told that four of her lymph nodes appeared enlarged. She told host Lauren Laverne: "I was in this hospital bed on my own, and no-one could come and visit me for over a week, with nothing but the sheer terrifying drop of the end of my existence in front of me – it was horrific."
She asked her then-husband Phil Lythell, from whom she divorced in 2022, to set up FaceTime in the corner of the room so she could see their daughters playing. "I didn't want them to see me; it was too much," she said.
Reflection and Celebrity Traitors
Reflecting on her ordeal, Fry, who is now five years clear of cancer, concluded: "Going through something like that, I don't think I would swap it. I think it was honestly such a gift to have that experience when you're 36 and then come out the other side of it."
The Cambridge professor was a hit on the recent series of Celebrity Traitors, competing for a charity prize. She discovered she was related to one of her co-stars, saying: "I really like Joanne. We actually discovered that we're cousins, by marriage. So her cousin is married to my cousin."
Speaking after leaving Ardross Castle, she said the experience was a rollercoaster of emotions: "I laughed more, cried more and got more excited than I ever have in the entirety of the rest of my life combined."
