Kéllé Bryan opened up about her lupus diagnosis (Image: ITV)
A Loose Women star made an emotional admission during the latest episode. Kaye Adams presented Wednesday’s (May 20) instalment of the ITV programme, where she was joined by panellists Coleen Nolan, Janet Street-Porter, and Kéllé Bryan.
Later in the show, the panel discussed Kylie Minogue, after the Australian pop icon revealed that she gone through a second cancer diagnosis in 2021, following her breast cancer battle in 2005.
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Kéllé then shared her experience of being diagnosed with lupus, which had previously resulted in severe complications, including cerebral lupus, a stroke, and memory loss. During today’s show, footage was shown of Kéllé emotionally discussing her condition on the panel a decade ago.
In the clip, she said: “It was really spiralling, so no matter what they tried to do in terms of managing [the condition], it wasn’t coming under control. And then I had a seizure,” reports the Mirror.
An old clip was played live on air (Image: ITV)
Growing tearful, the star went on: “I was driving my car at the time, and unfortunately, I got onto my driveway, and then I had a seizure. When I came round, I lost three days of my life. I don’t remember what happened.”
Back in the studio, Kéllé was seen looking downwards, with Kaye asking: “Do you find that hard to watch?” Kéllé responded: “Yeah, it is hard to watch. It’s been ten years. Now, I can celebrate the fact that I’m now in remission… I think about the decision I made back then [to go public with the diagnosis], and now we’re in a situation, because of research and funding, that there’s a new treatment called CAR-T cell therapy.
“Five patients have actually been tested and gone through therapy, and they’re now actually in remission. Whereas, before, there was no hope, and now I feel like that was worth it, because there are people out there who now have hope of getting better.”
She continued, “I couldn’t be selfish and think about myself. They are voiceless; they don’t have anyone to listen to them. It’s not like cancer, where it’s much more known about, and there’s a lot more attention.
Kylie Minogue has opened up about her secret cancer diagnosis (Image: Netflix)
“Whereas, lupus is one in nine… So, at that time, they didn’t have a voice, so I felt responsible to do something.”
Kaye then asked how difficult it was for Kéllé to publicly discuss her experience, with the star responding: “Yeah, it takes a lot for me to talk about it – it doesn’t matter when. At that time, I [was] only just able to speak because I lost my speech, because I had a stroke. So, I had to learn to speak and walk and talk, and all of that stuff again.
“But I think, in my mind, it’s always about the other patients, because I can walk, I can talk now, I can do those things. And there are patients that can’t, even now.”
Kéllé went on to reveal that people have reached out to her, saying, “Well, if you can, if you’re where you are now, then hopefully if I keep going, then I can get there.” She concluded by sharing: “That’s what’s important.
