“I can’t believe how stupid I was for so long to put it off”
12:56, 13 Jan 2026Updated 14:45, 13 Jan 2026
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Actress and comedian Diona Doherty(Image: )
Northern Irish comedian and actress Diona Doherty has urged women to go for their smear test as she opened up about a recent health scare.
Diona is no stranger to our TV screens having appeared in Blue Lights, Derry Girls, Britain and Ireland’s Next Top Model, Soft Border Patrol and The Blame Game.
But on a new episode of The Girls Groupchat, the Derry woman revealed she recently went for a smear test after a 12-year gap.
The podcast, which also features Belfast influencer Shannon Mitchell, Co Tyrone make-up artist Olivia McVeigh and radio DJ Jordan Arnold from Belfast, was launched less than a year ago and is already a hit on Spotify.
Diona revealed that after her smear test appointment, she was told she had pre-cancerous cells, resulting in her having to have some of her cervix removed.
Diona said: “As you know, a few months ago I got a smear test done. I hadn’t had a smear test in about 12 years and the results came back that said I had a moderate level of pre-cancerous cells. I had to go to get a biopsy done which then resulted that I had severe level of pre-cancerous cells, which was stage three. I was told that’s the last stage before it becomes cancerous.
“So I went on for my appointment and they burnt out all the cells, which is mad. You watch it on the screen and it shows you like your inside like pink and then they scroll the camera across and it’s like a wall of white, like snow. It literally just goes to white and they’re like, ‘that’s all your pre-cancerous cells’ and they burn them out.
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“Then they were like ‘we’re going to have to cut out some of your cervix whilst we’re here because this is like as far as you can go before this becomes pre-cancerous’. It all happened in a bit of a whirl and I got some of my cervix removed that day.
“I have the results back now, which is why I’m willing to talk about it. Everything’s fine and the situation’s handled but my point in saying it is I cannot stress enough how you should get your smear tests done. I can’t believe how stupid I was for so long to put it off.”
She added: “It was not about ‘oh, I don’t want to, I don’t want to spread my legs in front of a stranger and get a swab or whatever’. It was just going, ‘I can’t make it that day, I’ve got something on, can’t make it that day’.
“It’s so mad because whenever I was in, the doctor was like ‘it’s crazy that you left this 12 years and you just had an instinct to make the appointment because if you hadn’t have, this would have been way worse’. I was like, ‘I’m a mum, how stupid am I not to take my own health into my own hands’?”
Derry actress Diona Doherty (Image: )
The Public Health Agency (PHA) says cervical cancer is one of the few cancers that can be prevented thanks to screening, so it is really important to attend for cervical screening when invited as it could save your life.
Nearly all cervical cancers are caused by persistent infection with human papillomavirus, known as HPV. It is a very common virus – about 8 out of 10 people catch it at some point in their lives. The virus usually causes no symptoms and is mainly spread by skin-to-skin contact during sexual activity. In most cases, the body’s immune system will clear the virus and it doesn’t cause any problems, but in some people the virus can stay in the body for many years.
Cervical screening, as with all screening programmes, doesn’t guarantee that cancer will not develop in the future, as there’s a small chance that screening does not detect an issue, and cancer could also develop between screening tests. However, attending for regular screening tests when invited increases the chances of any changes that have developed being picked up early.
The HPV vaccine also helps to prevent HPV-related cancers from developing in young people. It is a one dose programme which is offered to pupils in Year 9 and given as an injection in the upper arm.
Dr Joanne McClean, Director of Public Health at the PHA, said: “Cervical cancer is a cancer that we can help prevent thanks to the HPV vaccination and cervical cancer screening programmes. We are confident that with good uptake of both we can drive down rates of cervical cancer to the point where it can almost be eliminated in years to come.”
Please see the following websites for further information:
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