Emmerdale newcomer Oliver Farnworth has opened up about his partner, former EastEnders star Samantha Womack’s cancer journey.
Oliver, 42, joined the Dales last week as John Sugden, the illegitimate son of soap legend Jack Sugden, and previously played Andy Carver in Coronation Street before the character was killed off in 2017.
Samantha, 51, is best known for her role as much-missed Ronnie Mitchell in the BBC soap, and has been dating the actor for around three years after they both starred in the 2019 stage adaptation of The Girl On The Train.
In 2022, Sam revealed her breast cancer diagnosis publicly in a tribute post to Olivia Newton-John, writing on social media: ‘This was the most magical of evenings. Olivia and Chloe had come to see Grease in London and we had dinner together afterwards. I was so excited and in awe, she was my childhood. I now start my own battle with this disease and am left feeling deeply moved.’
She went onto open up about her journey and the treatment she has received.
Sam later announced she was cancer free, and spoke candidly to Metro.co.uk about her battle.
‘I don’t have any more tumours at the moment, I’m clear in that respect, but I’m still incredibly cautious about getting my check-ups every year. But also trying not to spend my life waiting to see if it’s around the corner’ she said.
‘That’s the most complicated thing with cancer, is trying to put it in a place where you’re responsible about it but you’re also not letting it breathe down your neck every second of every day.’
Last week, Oliver made an appearance on ITV’s Lorraine, where guest host Christine Lampard asked how Samantha was doing.
‘She’s doing incredibly well’ he told her, adding: ‘I’m in awe of her.’
He continued: ‘She’s been so kind of strong and determined through it. And we were very lucky because they detected quite a high grade of cancer and were able to deal with that quite quickly but she then went through the chemo and the radiotherapy.’
Oliver also used the opportunity to stress the importance of breast check-ups, as well as looking for abnormalities.
