EastEnders actress Samantha Womack has reached out to her followers for support, following her auntie’s cancer diagnosis.
Samantha, best known for her role as Ronnie Mitchell in the BBC One soap, revealed her own cancer diagnosis in 2022.
In a tribute post to the late Olivia Newton-John, she wrote on social media at the time: ‘This was the most magical of evenings. Olivia and Chloe had come to see Grease in London and we had dinner together afterwards.
‘I was so excited and in awe, she was my childhood. I now start my own battle with this disease and am left feeling deeply moved.’
The following year she spoke to Metro about now being cancer free following treatment, including a lumpectomy and chemotherapy.
‘I don’t have any more tumours at the moment, I’m clear in that respect,’ she said.
‘But I’m still incredibly cautious about getting my check-ups every year. But also trying not to spend my life waiting to see if it’s around the corner.
‘That’s the most complicated thing with cancer, is trying to put it in a place where you’re responsible about it but you’re also not letting it breathe down your neck every second of every day.’
Yesterday, Samantha took to social media platform X to reveal some sad family news. She confirmed that her auntie has advanced colon and liver cancer.
She wrote in the post: ‘After surviving my own cancer, I am devastated that my auntie Angie has advanced colon and liver cancer. Callum and I are doing everything we can, but we really need support. Appreciate any help you can give.’
Samantha’s cousin and Angie’s son is Calum Best, an English-American TV personality. He set up the GoFundMe page that Samantha shared in her tweet, and wrote a heartfelt message on the page about his mum.
He began: I’ve been thinking long and hard over the past few weeks about how to write this. I wanted to get the words right, but when it comes to health, and when it comes to my mum, the only thing that really matters is honesty. A few weeks ago, my beautiful, wonderful mum was diagnosed with cancer.
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‘For as long as I can remember, she has lived her life rooted in health, fitness and wellbeing. She has always believed in taking care of the body, mind and soul. But as we all know, cancer doesn’t discriminate. It doesn’t care where you’re from, how you live, or how healthy you try to be. And now, it’s here – and it’s with my mum.’
Calum added: ‘I’ll be honest, I haven’t cried in year but this has been an emotional rollercoaster I never expected to be on. We’ve reached a point where we felt it was important to share what we’re going through and, humbly, ask for help.
‘My mum has been diagnosed with colon cancer that has spread to her liver. To move forward, we need access to specialist care and professionals who can offer the right treatment. This is incredibly hard for me to say, but financially, I can’t carry this on my own.
He concluded: ‘So we’ve created this GoFundMe page to ask for your support. Any contribution, no matter how small, will help us access the specialists, treatment and care my mum needs during this time. We’ll also be sharing updates along the way, and my mum will be posting videos too, when she feels able.
‘From the bottom of my heart, thank you for reading, for caring, for sharing and for supporting us in any way you can.’
You can donate to the GoFundMe page set up for Angie here.
Samantha left the BBC One soap in 2017. Her character Ronnie Mitchell and Rita Simons’ soap alter ego Roxy Mitchell both died on New Year’s Day.
Roxy suffered a heart attack from a drug overdose in a swimming pool, promoting Ronnie to jump in to try and rescue her. Ronnie got caught and weighed down by her wedding dress, and drowned as well.
The death of these two siblings left audience members distraught. Even though it’s been 9 years since Ronnie and Roxy’s final scenes, fans still discuss the heartbreaking moment, and often argue that they should be brought back from the dead.
