Former Hollyoaks star Abi Phillips has revealed she has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer at 28
(Picture: Abi Phillips / Instagram)Former Hollyoaks star Abi Phillips has revealed she has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer at 28 and claims doctors initially dismissed her concerns.
Phillips - who played character Liberty Savage in the Channel 4 soap - shared the devastating news on social media.
Taking to Instagram, she uploaded two pictures - one in which she is wearing a hospital gown and a face mask, the other pointing at a dressing on her neck after undergoing a biopsy.
The actress and singer-songwriter - who is the daughter of former Strictly Come Dancing judge Arlene Phillips - included a lengthy caption explaining why the images were now so poignant.
She wrote: “So, I took these pictures before my scans and after my biopsy having a good old laugh about how ridiculously dressed up I looked in the hospital before a gig, not expecting for one moment to get the news that I did two weeks later…
“I’d previously been sent away from the doctors after having found two lumps in my neck, they’d passed it off and said I was ‘young’ and it wouldn’t be anything and I was ‘probably getting over a cold’ or my body was ‘fighting something off’.
“As much as that’s what I wanted to hear I wanted to get everything checked for my own peace of mind.”
The soap star then met with a specialist who confirmed that it was cancer and that she would need to have surgery and radiotherapy.
She went on to express her gratitude to Love Island star Demi Jones – who underwent a full thyroidectomy after being diagnosed in May 2021 – for showing her social media followers where her lumps were as Phillips’ were in the exact same location.
Phillips said: “I booked in with a specialist and immediately she told me she was very concerned due to where my lumps were located and referred me for an urgent biopsy and scans.
“Fast forward two weeks and just before Easter weekend I had an appointment to see a consultant at the QE hospital who sat me down and told me that I had been diagnosed with thyroid cancer, and that I would need surgery and radiotherapy treatment.
“I never thought I would be told that I have cancer at the age of 28, you never think it’s going to happen to you. I wouldn’t have taken things further with seeing a specialist if I hadn’t seen @demijones1 post as her lumps were in the exact same place as mine.”
She concluded her post by sharing that she is due to have surgery next week and urged her followers to go and get themselves check out if they ever have any concerns of their own.
“If ever you find a lump or something unusual on your body, never just think it’s nothing, don’t be told that you’re fine by the GP and you’re ‘young’, always get things checked out by a specialist if you can and insist on tests even if it turns out to be nothing, as catching things early is crucial for a good prognosis.”
Phillips appeared in Hollyoaks from 2010 until 2013 when she left to pursue a singing career.
She auditioned unsuccessfully for The Voice US in 2017.
In 2018, Hollyoaks decided to recast her role with actress Jessamy Stoddart.
