Samantha Womack has said she would’ve delayed her own cancer treatment in solidarity with striking NHS staff who “shouldn’t be eating from food banks”. The former EastEnders actor, 50, announced she had been diagnosed with “brutal” breast cancer in August last year – shortly after Dame Olivia Newton-John died from the disease. Last December, NHS doctors and nurses went on a nationwide strike demanding better pay amid a cost-of-living crisis and rising inflation. Describing herself as a “huge advocate” of England’s national health service, she called it “one of the best gifts we have” in an interview with Press Association. She added: “But when you’ve got the people who are working as hard as they are doing the hours they are, not being supported, even if it would have delayed my own personal treatment, “I would have been out there fighting with them, because I’m absolutely desperate for them to be paid properly and appropriately for what they do,” she continued. “They certainly shouldn’t be eating from food banks.” She also told the agency Newton-John’s death made Womack want to share her own diagnosis, “because I thought everyone knows someone that’s got cancer”. “It was very poignant for me when I got my diagnosis that she had lost her battle and they happened within the same timeframe,” she explained. Womack, who played Ronnie Mitchell on the hit BBC soap until 2017, told fans in January 2023 that she had overcome breast cancer. The British actor is now lending her support to a campaign enabling greater access to a new AI breast cancer diagnostic tool called Digistain. The UK’s first breast cancer risk profiling solution, Digistain helps patients better understand their cancer and the specific treatment that will most benefit them. Womack said she didn’t know about Digistain when her cancer was diagnosed, and that she was “anxious not to have chemotherapy” if she didn’t require the “brutal treatment”. “I knew that there was a test called the Oncotype test, which is very similar....(but) it’s incredibly expensive so it’s just not available to most people,” she added. Womack said the test gives a ratio of how beneficial chemotherapy would be and she was “on the fence” so had two rounds before making the decision to stop. Last October, Womack gave fans a health update while receiving the treatment, explaining that she had gotten her appetite back but was struggling with migraines. Elsewhere in the interview on Friday (12 May), Womack reflected on life after being given the all-clear and how it has changed her perspective. “It’s apparent in every little thing that you think,” she continued. “It’s a bit like learning to think and speak in a different language and it’s quite exhausting, because you’re not quite the same person that you were so everything is just slightly shaded in a different colour.” Read More Rainy bike rides and jellybean bribes: The secrets of royal coronation photographer Hugo Burnand Taylor Swift fans react to new photo ‘confirming’ Matty Healy romance: ‘I’m going to cry’ The Bear star Jeremy Allen White’s wife Addison Timlin reportedly files for divorce Meghan is ‘cuckoo’ in royal nest and her ‘woke hang-ups’ will destroy marriage, says Labour grandee Robert De Niro reveals name of newborn daughter as he shares first photo of seventh child

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Timothee Chalamet and Kylie Jenner's rumoured romance has social media in a chokehold after the pair were spotted kissing at a Beyonce concert in California. But now, attention has been turned to the actor puffing on a cigarette while in attendance. The viral clip of the pair at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California on Monday night (4 September) soon spread online, with many commenting on Chalamet's concert etiquette. "Imagine spending a bunch of money and being sooo excited to see Beyoncé on tour only to have Timothee Chalamet in the comfort of his little booth flicking cigarette ashes on your head," one person penned on X/Twitter. Another jokingly reiterated: "Imagine the cigarette ash of Timothee Chalamet fell on your head at Beyonce's concert?!?" Another found it offensive towards the 'Summer Renaissance' singer, writing: "Smoking cigarettes at a Beyonce concert i see we’ve left etiquette at the door…" "Timothee Chalamet smoking a cig at Beyonce’s birthday show for her to inhale does not sit right with me," another X/Twitter user wrote. Meanwhile, one person humoured: "Timothee Chalamet is legally required to smoke one cigarette at minimum per day to maintain french citizenship stop being mean to him :(". Speculations that Chalamet and Jenner were dating were rife back in April when Jenner was spotted at the actor's house. Around the same time, the pair went out for food, according to TMZ. Then, a source told Us Weekly: "Kylie has only hung out with Timothee a couple of times, so things aren’t that serious. However, she’s enjoying getting to know him better and is open to seeing where things go." Elsewhere, a source told Entertainment Weekly that the two are now dating and that they are "keeping things casual at this point." Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.