THE Real Housewives of Cheshire star Ester Dee has opened up about her horrifying cervical cancer scare this year.
The mother-of-one, who rose to fame on the ITVBe show, revealed how she "thought she was going to die" after the pre-cancerous cells were found in her cervix during a smear test.
Czech-born Ester, 37, admitted she had failed to go to years of her scheduled routine smear tests, putting her life at risk.
She told OK! magazine that her most recent screening found pre-cancerous cells in her cervix, and how she had a lucky escape.
The RHOC star – who joined the cast in 2016 before quitting the show last summer – had the pre-cancerous cells removed with surgery.
"It's been horrendous. I’ve been an idiot with my health, putting my life at risk," she explained of the horrific ordeal.
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“I’ve been invited for a smear test numerous times but have always ignored the letters thinking there was no family history of cancer, that nothing could happen to me and that I was invincible.
"I didn’t want the inconvenience of going to the appointment or the discomfort of the procedure itself.
"I hate myself for not listening to my mum who would always tell me to go and get checked and for ignoring all those letters from the GP. It’s all my own fault.”
Ester didn't book a smear appointment until she started experiencing worrying symptoms, despite being invited for regular screening.
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The star admitted she experienced bleeding, watery discharge and an unpleasant odour – all of which are symptoms of cervical cancer.
The cancer kills around 850 women in the UK each year, but deaths from the disease are preventable with early discovery.
“I Googled it and immediately started panicking that I was going to die,” Ester added. "I thought of my little girl and cried to my mum."
Ester made an emergency appointment for a smear test, which showed she had some abnormalities.
The star went for a cervical biopsy shortly after, and the cells were discovered to be concerning enough to be removed.
“It has been horrible, but I honestly feel like one of the lucky ones," she concluded. "I can’t bear to think about what might have happened if I’d carried on not getting tested.”
Ester encouraged other women to go and get their smear tests done, and not "be an idiot like her" as she concluded.
Ester, who is originally from the Czech Republic, moved to the UK in 2003 before becoming a successful business woman.
As well as having her own hair extensions and eyelashes range, Ester also launched her own glasses collection.
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She first appeared on the Real Housewives with her millionaire boyfriend and fiancé Rob Lloyd.
But it was later revealed she had a secret husband, millionaire John Temple, who she married in 2015 and divorced in 2018.
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