Former EastEnders star Samantha Womack has spoken out about her breast cancer journey, as she urged women and men to check for symptoms of the illness.

The actress, who played Ronnie Mitchell in the BBC soap, appeared on Good Morning Britain this morning, December 15, and told viewers that she was ‘really lucky’ to have caught her cancer early after a random check.

‘I never check myself,’ Sam said, ‘I’ve just been so strong most of my life, so I was really fortunate that I just happened to do that when I did.’

Sam revealed her diagnosis publicly following the death of Olivia Newton John in August. Since then, she has been open about her journey and the treatment she has received.

Along the way, she has been inundated by messages of support from fans.

‘Lots of people were reaching out to me on social media,’ she said, ‘hundreds and hundreds of women and men. It’s important to say that men get breast cancer too.’

Olivia’s passing inspired Sam to go public with her diagnosis (Picture: Sam Womack)

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Sam went on to urge viewers, both men and women, to check themselves for signs of breast cancer.

‘If you can check yourself earlier, it’s not just something that affects women of a certain age. It’s actually men and women. So any checks you can do could be life saving.’

For further support and information, please visit https://www.macmillan.org.uk/.

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The actress was recently given the all clear.