The BBC star was diagnosed with breast cancer back in 2020
12:57, 28 Dec 2025
Countryfile host Julia Bradbury(Image: BBC)
Countryfile host Julia Bradbury has opened up on a big lifestyle change she has made to her diet in an attempt to prevent her cancer from coming back. The 55-year-old BBC host was diagnosed with breast cancer during lockdown and in 2021, she underwent a single mastectomy back to remove a tumour.
Since her life-saving operation, Julia has completely given up alcohol, something that she says some people find “infuriating”. In an interview with The Times last year, she explained that doctors warned her that every drink above a certain limit significantly increases the chances of the cancer returning, confessing that “death looked me in the eyes”.
She told the publication: “I get a lot of pushback on social media about this. People go, ‘I was healthy, I go to the gym, I got cancer, and now it’s metastasised, and I’ve got secondary cancer. So, are you blaming me for my illness? No. All I’m saying is, this is what I went through. It was a wake-up call, and it made me look at life differently.
“It made me prioritise my sleep, emotional health, and gave me more time for my loved ones. If I drink more than four units of alcohol a week, my risk of recurrence goes up by 28 per cent. But people find me giving up drinking infuriating.”
Julia was diagnosed with breast cancer back in 2020(Image: ITV)
Julia says her poor health took a hit on her confidence and her bank balance, and made her rethink her approach to life as a whole, the Express reports. She reflected: “I am very, very fortunate, and overall, I’m having a wonderful life.
“But I’ve had a cancer diagnosis, both my parents have had cancer, I’ve lost people along the way, I’ve had financial worries, I’ve had to reinvent myself, and I’m not 100 per cent happy all of the time – of course not.
“But you can get through things, you can overcome hardships, and I like to think that’s what I do.”
The broadcaster has also been open about questioning whether she will be able to keep up her relentless pace in the future. Bradbury went on: “I do have a fearless streak. But recently I’ve had a doctor reframe that for me.
“He said, ‘This drive that you have – you’re running on a credit card. You can push through all sorts of things. But is that the best thing for you?’
“I realised you don’t have to win every race. You don’t have to overcome everything. I don’t want to max out the credit card.”
Julia has thankfully received the all-clear but still continues with routine check-ups every year. She explained: “I wasn’t close to death, but death looked me in the eyes. So I am more focused on my health than I ever have been.
Julia has made some lifestyle changes to stop her cancer from preventing(Image: Daily Record )
“I don’t drink, I eat a healthy diet, and exercise every day. When I came home from my mastectomy, I promised I would spend time outside every day, and that is my mantra, however poor it might be in this winter.”
The presenter now spends as much time as possible with her three kids, 13-year-old Zephyr and her 10-year-old twin daughters Xanthe and Zena. She gushed: “I really revel in being present with them and doing things with them that are nourishing and enriching – not big things, just being with them and spending time with them is really, really important.”
The broadcaster, whose career has spanned from her role as GMTV’s Los Angeles correspondent to primetime shows including Watchdog, confessed she previously lacked equilibrium in her life before her cancer battle.
