Julia Bradbury shares her mastectomy scars and says they are a sign of 'resilience' and 'survival' after breast cancer battle
Julia Bradbury has proudly shared her surgery scars after undergoing a mastectomy in her fight against breast cancer.
The Countryfile presenter, 53, was diagnosed with breast cancer in September 2021 and underwent a mastectomy to have her 6cm tumour removed.
The TV host took to Instagram on Tuesday and shared a close-up shot of her breast along with a message that scars are a sign of 'resilience'.
She wrote: 'In Japan, there's a tradition called Kintsugi — the art of mending broken pottery with gold. Instead of hiding the cracks, this practice highlights them, celebrating the object's history and uniqueness.
'Why does this matter to us?
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'Just like those vessels, our scars — emotional or physical — are not flaws to be concealed. They're stories of resilience, growth, and transformation. Each mark is a testament to our journey and strength.
'What if we viewed our imperfections as our most beautiful features?'
Julia believes scars are a sign of 'survival' and 'strength'.
She added: 'Embracing our scars doesn't mean we haven't been hurt or been through hard things; it means we've healed, we've learned, and we've become more ourselves.
'Our scars are not marks of defeat but of survival, growth, and strength. Each line, each break, is a testament to the challenges we've faced and the resilience we've built.
'So, let's not shy away from them. Let's wear them with pride. They're the golden threads that weave the tapestry of our lives.'
It comes after Julia recently broke down into tears as she recalled the moment she informed her husband, Gerard Cunningham, about her diagnosis.
Appearing on Davina McCall 's Begin Again podcast, Julia spoke about the moment she phoned her partner, whom she has been married to since 2000, to break the devastating news.
Julia said: 'I told him, and we cried. And I said, "I'll do whatever I have to do to get through this. I will do whatever it is".'
Determined to fight, she expressed her readiness to face any challenge that may pop up ahead.
'If I have to lose a breast, I'll have to lose my hair. If I have to go, whatever it is I need to do,' she said. 'I'm going to do what I need to do to get through this.'
Julia said fighting cancer is not the same for everyone. She said: 'Every type of cancer is different. Every type of breast cancer is different.
'You'll have a friend who's gone through breast cancer, and she and I will sit down and have a story, and we'll have had a different tumour in a different place, and it will behave differently.
'It's very complicated. And that's the reason why the war on cancer hasn't been won yet.'
Julia shares her son Zephyr, 13, and her twin girls, Xanthe and Zena, eight, with her property developer husband, Gerard.
In 2023, she spoke about her determination to 'stay alive' two years on from her breast cancer diagnosis.
The journalist and TV presenter had the tumour, two lymph glands and her left breast removed before having reconstruction surgery.
Julia has since revealed how her diagnosis changed her life, leading her to adopt a much healthier diet and go teetotal as she declared she will do everything possible to see her children grow up.
Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world and affects more than two MILLION women a year
Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world. Each year in the UK there are more than 55,000 new cases, and the disease claims the lives of 11,500 women. In the US, it strikes 266,000 each year and kills 40,000. But what causes it and how can it be treated?
What is breast cancer?
It comes from a cancerous cell which develops in the lining of a duct or lobule in one of the breasts.
When the breast cancer has spread into surrounding tissue it is called 'invasive'. Some people are diagnosed with 'carcinoma in situ', where no cancer cells have grown beyond the duct or lobule.
Most cases develop in those over the age of 50 but younger women are sometimes affected. Breast cancer can develop in men, though this is rare.
Staging indicates how big the cancer is and whether it has spread. Stage 1 is the earliest stage and stage 4 means the cancer has spread to another part of the body.
The cancerous cells are graded from low, which means a slow growth, to high, which is fast-growing. High-grade cancers are more likely to come back after they have first been treated.
What causes breast cancer?
A cancerous tumour starts from one abnormal cell. The exact reason why a cell becomes cancerous is unclear. It is thought that something damages or alters certain genes in the cell. This makes the cell abnormal and multiply 'out of control'.
Although breast cancer can develop for no apparent reason, there are some risk factors that can increase the chance, such as genetics.
What are the symptoms of breast cancer?
The usual first symptom is a painless lump in the breast, although most are not cancerous and are fluid filled cysts, which are benign.
The first place that breast cancer usually spreads to is the lymph nodes in the armpit. If this occurs you will develop a swelling or lump in an armpit.
How is breast cancer diagnosed?
Initial assessment: A doctor examines the breasts and armpits. They may do tests such as a mammography, a special x-ray of the breast tissue which can indicate the possibility of tumours.
Biopsy: A biopsy is when a small sample of tissue is removed from a part of the body. The sample is then examined under a microscope to look for abnormal cells. The sample can confirm or rule out cancer.
If you are confirmed to have breast cancer, further tests may be needed to assess if it has spread. For example, blood tests, an ultrasound scan of the liver or a chest X-ray.
How is breast cancer treated?
Treatment options which may be considered include surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormone treatment. Often a combination of two or more of these treatments are used.
Surgery: Breast-conserving surgery or the removal of the affected breast depending on the size of the tumour.
Radiotherapy: A treatment which uses high energy beams of radiation focused on cancerous tissue. This kills cancer cells, or stops them from multiplying. It is mainly used in addition to surgery.
Chemotherapy: A treatment of cancer by using anti-cancer drugs which kill cancer cells, or stop them from multiplying.
Hormone treatments: Some types of breast cancer are affected by the 'female' hormone oestrogen, which can stimulate the cancer cells to divide and multiply. Treatments which reduce the level of these hormones, or prevent them from working, are commonly used in people with breast cancer.
How successful is treatment?
The outlook is best in those who are diagnosed when the cancer is still small, and has not spread. Surgical removal of a tumour in an early stage may then give a good chance of cure.
The routine mammography offered to women between the ages of 50 and 71 means more breast cancers are being diagnosed and treated at an early stage.
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Even in an ideal system, where I could be supported on and off medication with all the necessary tests, I would still have to make a judgment call about how much time and energy to invest in 'managing' my PCOS. It is lifelong and incurable, and, for me at least, learning to live with it has become just as important as tackling some of the issues that it causes. That is not to say people with PCOS should give up – learn to embrace their facial hair or uncomfortable acne, or the more serious difficulties related to heart health or diabetes – but it does move it in my mind from a space of hopelessness to one of pragmatism. And it has allowed me to give myself a mental break. 'You do need to have at least four periods a year, because otherwise it's a higher risk of getting cancer of the womb, for example,' says Teede. She says that people with PCOS must go for an annual checkup, including blood pressure tests. 'But you don't need to carry that around permanently,' she adds. 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