Warrior Chas Dingle delivers powerful speech on her body after cancer in Emmerdale – and it’s everything
Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter) has been recovering from a double mastectomy in recent Emmerdale scenes, after being diagnosed with breast cancer.
With her physical health improving, Chas decided to start wearing prostheses as she returned to everyday life.
Things were going well until Kerry Wyatt (Laura Norton) arrived and, in true Kerry style, managed to put her foot in it completely.
She was quick to comment on Chas’ new look, and though her intention was to compliment her, it left Chas feeling more uncomfortable than ever.
Determined not to let it get her down, however, Chas gave an impassioned speech about how there was much more to her than just the size of her breasts, explaining how she was proud of her body for everything it had survived.
Further proving her point, Chas swiftly removed her prostheses and let it be known that this was who she really was, and she was proud of it.
Chas’ moving speech
‘Because that’s the essence of me boiled down, isn’t it? Both breasts. A million years of feminism and you think that’s what women are? A pair of noughts?
‘I shove a pair of silicon lumps down an itchy, scratchy bra that absolutely kills my shoulders, just so some random bloke won’t be offended by my flat chest? Because if they see me with nothing sticking out above my waist, they might even have to face the fact that I’ve had cancer. And heaven forbid, because there is nothing more unattractive than a woman whose body isn’t absolutely perfect in every single way.
‘This is my body, and I am proud of it because it has grown three children and, hopefully, it will continue beating off this faulty gene.
‘There is more to me than a pair of breasts. And, you know what, if people can’t cope with that, then it’s their problem, not mine. This is who I really am.’
Following the moving speech, Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins) went to check on her cousin, where Chas admitted that she was finding difficult to adjust to how she looked now.
She revealed that, while prostheses worked in making many people feel confident and strong, that wasn’t the case for her, before asserting that she was proud of her body and wanted to set a good example for daughter Eve.
Despite this, she emotionally explained how she hadn’t yet looked at her scars, as she was afraid that once she looked, she wouldn’t be able to unsee it, and she wasn’t ready to give up the person that she used to be.
However, Charity promised to support her when she looked for the first time, and her support gave Chas the confidence to finally look in the mirror.
As she continues on her journey, will Chas find a way to adapt to her new normal?