'Coronation Street' star gets honest about her harrowing cancer journey

Ellie Leach, known for her performance in Coronation Street, opened up about her life after a cancer diagnosis.

The 25-year-old English actress, famous for playing Faye Windass on the ITV soap opera Coronation Street, appeared on Friday, September 11 episode of Good Morning Britain, where she talked about her smear test and what she is supposed to do after the test result.

While conversing with presenters Ranvir Singh and Kate Garraway about her journey, Leach shared, “I went for my first ever smear test, and I was really nervous, but I was like, ‘I know I have to do it.”

“I was waiting quite a while for my results, and they came back abnormal and also said I had a HPV positive result,” she added.

The Drama Queens star was asked to clarify whether it suggested it was a pre-cancerous position, to which she said yes, highlighting that it could also mean she has HPV, a common infection spread through s***.

Leach explained, “A lot of people will have it and not realise they have it. My cells also came back abnormal, so I had to go for another in-depth smear test, and they said, ‘Your cells are pre-cancerous’. So, I ended up having to have an LLETZ procedure, where they remove the cells from your cervix.”

“If I hadn’t ever gone for my first ever smear test, I wouldn’t have known, and I wouldn’t have been able to have that procedure done and hopefully have removed those cells that are pre-cancerous,” she admitted.

It is pertinent to mention that a Pap smear is a procedure that involves collecting cells from the cervix for testing to diagnose cervical cancer. The cervix is the lower, narrow end of the uterus that opens into the vagina.