Strictly Come Dancing star Alex Kingston has opened up on a secret cancer battle last year and how she is now in recovery after the ordeal.
The former ER and Doctor Who star revealed she was diagnosed with uterine cancer in 2024 before undergoing a hysterectomy and radiation therapy.
The 62-year-old has now spoken about her health crisis for the first time, revealing she had experienced symptoms for a long time, but put it down to her age until she "haemorrhaged" on stage while performing in a play last summer.
The star has also urged others to get checked if they are experiencing symptoms.
Every Strictly Come Dancing winner (2004-2024)
Strictly star Alex Kingston reveals seceret cancer battle
She told The Independent newspaper: "I had a major operation. I had to have a hysterectomy, I had to go into radiation therapy, and that took up a huge part of my life ...
"I had assumed that the way I was feeling was old age, and I just sort of accepted it. I thought: 'OK, this is what it’s like to be in my sixties.’ But a lot of how I was feeling was to do with my illness.
"I never went down the cancer road in my head. It was a shock, because I have a very positive outlook on life in general.
"Even though my body was telling me there was something very seriously wrong, I kept thinking: 'Oh, I’ve got a bad UTI or fibroids'."
The actress waited until her run in the play was over before seeking medical treatment and was told doctors found cancer in her fallopian tubes, but it hadn’t spread to her ovaries.
After undergoing the hysterectomy and a course of radiation therapy, she says she now feels better than she has in years.
She added: "Despite having gone through all of that – and any cancer is really tough to accept, to steel yourself to go through all of the necessary procedures to get back into health – the minute I had the operation, I suddenly felt like myself again ... [I] hadn’t felt like that for years."
Since her battle with cancer, Kingston has signed up to compete in BBC's Strictly Come Dancing , and told the publication she now feels "like Superwoman".
She also advised others to talk to a doctor about any mysterious symptoms because early intervention could save lives.
Alex said: "Womb cancer is really tricky because it is so sneaky. What I would say is, the body does know – and that was the body saying to me: ‘Help! There’s something really wrong."
'It’s so important to seek advice and have a check-up."
Who is on Strictly Come Dancing 2025?
Alex Kingston is one of 15 celebrities taking part in Strictly Come Dancing this year.
Here is the full list of famous faces and their partners on this year's show:
- Amber Davies and Nikita Kuzmin
- Lewis Cope and Katya Jones
- George Clarke and Alexis Warr
- Jimmy Floyd-Hasselbaink and Lauren Oakley
- Alex Kingston and Joahannes Radebe
- Karen Carney and Carlos Gu
- Vicky Pattison and Kai Widdrington
- Balvinder Sopal and Julian Caillon
- Harry Aikines-Aryeetey and Karen Hauer
- La Voix and Aljaž Škorjanec
- Ellie Goldstein and Vito Coppola
- Stefan Dennis and Dianne Buswell
- Chris Robshaw and Nadiya Byckova
- Thomas Skinner and Amy Dowden
- Ross King and Jowita Przystal
Who has been eliminated so far on Strictly?
Just one celebrity has been eliminated so far on Strictly, and that was former Apprentice star Thomas Skinner .
BOSH❤️🇬🇧😂 pic.twitter.com/HSA1SQR1lF
— Thomas Skinner ⚒ (@iamtomskinner) October 5, 2025
Following the public vote, Skinner and Dowden found themselves in Sunday's dance-off along with former England rugby star Chris Robshaw and his partner Nadiya Bychkova.
Both couples performed their dances from Saturday night again, with Robshaw and Bychkova performing a Viennese waltz to Die With A Smile by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars.
Following both dances, judges Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood all voted to save Robshaw and Bychkova.
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This meant Mabuse did not need to use her casting vote, but said she would have voted the same way.
With Robshaw and Bychkova safe, it meant Skinner and Dowden were the first couple to be eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing 2025.
Strictly Come Dancing returns at 6.05pm on Saturday (October 11) on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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