Sky Sports star Jo Wilson, 37, reveals she has stage three cervical cancer as she urges women to get tested
SKY Sports presenter Jo Wilson has been diagnosed with cervical cancer.
The TV host, 37, revealed she was diagnosed with stage 3 cervical cancer this summer and is undergoing radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment.
Jo - who has been a familiar face on Sky Sports News since 2011 - spoke out in Gynaecological Cancer Awareness month to encourage women to go for smear tests.
“The last person in the public eye with cervical cancer was Jade Goody,” Jo told .
“After Jade’s death, more women went for smear tests, but now one in three who are eligible don’t go. I really want to change that.
“If I can save just one other life by being open about my battle then it’s worth speaking out.”
SMEAR TESTS
Cervical cancer kills around 850 women every year in the UK. Almost every case - 3,200 per year - is preventable.
Women between the ages of 25 and 64 are invited for regular cervical screening under the NHS Cervical Screening Programme.
Smear tests do not look for cancer, but prevent it. A sample is taken and screened for HPV - a common virus that in some cases can turn into cancer.
It spots abnormalities within the cervix that could, if undetected and untreated, develop into cervical cancer.
KNOW THE SIGNS
The most common and earliest sign of cervical cancer tends to be irregular bleeding which can occur during or after sex, between periods (spotting) or after the menoapuse.
Everyone's discharge is different, so it's a case of knowing what is normal for you.
It also changes over the course of your cycle and in response to infection or hormonal changes, for example pregnancy.
If you find your discharge is looking different to normal, for example eif thicker, changing colour or smelling unpleasant ,that's something you need to have checked out.
Pain during sex can be a sign of a number of different issues, but one is cervical cancer.
Because the disease often comes with no symptoms, pain during intercourse is one of the key indicators. It can be a sign that the cancer is spreading to surrounding tissues.
Pain in the lower back, pelvis, between the hips or appendix can be a symptom of cervical cancer.
A loss of appetite and unexplained weight loss tend to be signs that the body isn't working properly - it's trying to conserve energy.
Jo - who lives in the Cotswolds with her partner Dan, 42 and daughter Mabel, two - said a gynaecologist immediately spotted the signs of cancer when she went for her smear test in June.
After more tests, it was confirmed that the presenter had stage 3b cervical cancer and the disease had spread to two of her lymph nodes.
Speaking about the moment she found out the devastating news, she said: “I cried while a lovely nurse held my hand.
“Then I cried to Dan, and he was quite shocked because he didn’t really think it would be cancer. You're desperately hoping there's a chance it might not be.”
Most read in Sport
Jo had kept up to date with her smear tests over the years.
The host had been due one while she was pregnant, but after a traumatic delivery with her daughter in September 2020, from which they both caught sepsis, she delayed going for a smear.
“I said to the doctor ‘Am I going to die?’” admits Jo.
"'You're not going to die,’ he reassured me. ‘It's very treatable, and it's very curable.’
Jo has lost a stone since the diagnosis and her diary is filled with hospital appointments.
Jo has urged other women to get their smear test and said: ";I don’t want anyone to have to go through what I am right now.”
