Sarah Ferguson says cancer helped her beat addiction she had battled since she was 11

Sarah Ferguson has revealed that her cancer diagnosis had some positive effects on her life, crediting the diagnosis with helping her overcome an addiction she had battled since she was 11. Ferguson revealed her diagnosis with "early form of breast cancer" in June 2023 for which she underwent a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery.

Her daughter Princess Beatrice revealed she had been given the all-clear in May. Ferguson has always been candid about her struggles with binge eating, previously confessing that she has felt "addicted" to food since her childhood.

She told HELLO! in 2021: "I have known what it's like to struggle with weight since the age of 12, when my parents' marriage ended and I blamed myself. I started comfort eating and piled on the pounds and this carried on into my adult life. Food had become my addiction and every time things got difficult, I ate to compensate."

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Sarah revealed that she has finally managed to conquer her food addiction, attributing her breast cancer diagnosis and treatment as a significant factor. She told the Sunday Telegraph: "It took me being literally carved up to cut away the addictions of self-doubt and self-judgment that I have lived with since the age of 11.

"Don't wait to be cut open in order to cut away the addiction. My addiction was my addiction to food. So I ate to compensate for my feeling."

She added: "When I got cancer I put my life back in the middle and food back in its rightful place, not intentionally. It just happened because I realised that I was eating instead of living. At 65, I'm now free of the shackles of unworthiness and self-doubt."