Sunrise star Edwina Bartholomew’s emotional update on ‘life-changing’ diagnosis: ‘It smacks you in the face’

In her first interview since her cancer diagnosis, Sunrise presenter Edwina Bartholomew explains how her condition has changed her life – and why she chose not to tell her young children about it.

As a presenter on Sunrise, Edwina Bartholomew brings Australians the news, both good and bad, each morning.

But when it came to her own cancer diagnosis, the longtime journalist had to first level with herself before breaking the story to the world.

In an interview on the Stellar podcast Something To Talk About, the 41-year-old gives an update on her health, explains why she chose not to tell her young children about her condition, and reveals why she made a conscious decision to be “very chipper about having cancer”.

Listen to the full interview with Edwina Bartholomew on the new episode of the Stellar podcast, Something To Talk About:

Stellar: Thanks for coming to talk with me today, because I know this isn’t easy to discuss. You last sat down with Stellar in April, and we talked about mortality, health and the need to take care of yourself in your 40s (Bartholomew turned 41 in July). Not long after that you were diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) – a blood and bone marrow cancer. Can we start by asking how you’re feeling today?

Edwina Bartholomew: Even now, saying [I have leukaemia] out loud, it’s a shock to the system, even though I’ve had months and months to process it. I will be OK, but it’s still cancer and that word sticks and shocks. It ended up being a positive outcome because I think I caught this particular condition within maybe a month or two of having it, which puts me in an extremely lucky category when it comes to people with leukaemia.

‘I am extremely lucky!’ Sunrise presenter Edwina Bartholomew. Picture: Steven Chee for Stellar

Stellar: Can you tell us a little about how you felt when you first heard those words? Was CML a condition you knew much about?

Edwina Bartholomew: I hadn’t heard of it at all. I’d obviously heard the word leukaemia, which can be a huge spectrum of conditions. Thankfully CML is now a chronic condition as opposed to being terminal. I have a wonderful female GP and she’d sent me off to do all these tests and one of them came back slightly irregular, and she said, “Do you have an infection? Have you been unwell?” And I said, “Look, I’ve got a two and a four-year-old [son Thomas and daughter Molly, who turns five this week, who she shares with husband Neil Varcoe] – I’ve always got something floating around my system.” And she said, “Maybe just go and do that one test again.” It took me about a month to do that. I finally went and she called that night quite late. She said, “Are you feeling OK?” And I said, “I’m fine.” She said, “Maybe you should come in tomorrow.” The next day the surgery called and said, “When you come in, bring someone with you.” That’s never a good thing to hear. I called Neil and I said, “Can you come with me?”

Picture: Steven Chee for Stellar

Edwina (continued): So we were sitting there and she told me, “We need to confirm it, but we believe you have a condition called chronic myeloid leukaemia.” It was like a scene from a movie. You know when you see those people sort of take that gasp of air when you say it out loud for the first time. We knew very soon afterwards that the outcome would be really good. It was a weird mix of emotions because you’ve found out you have cancer, something called CML, but at the same time you know that you’re extraordinarily lucky. In the initial stages, I was fully focused on being very chipper about having cancer. I feel OK about it. I haven’t had the trauma of something like chemotherapy or even going to hospital to be admitted. I didn’t have the trauma [of that], but I was able to have that extraordinary change of perspective that something like this affords you – or forces you into. That’s been a wonderful outcome in that you just suddenly become hyper-focused on all the things that are really actually important in life. And that’s been a wonderful take away from what has been a fairly turbulent few months.

Stellar: When you and Neil left the doctor’s after you received your diagnosis, you drove straight to see your parents to tell them. It’s very difficult, I imagine, for a parent to hear their child tell them a diagnosis like that. How did they cope?

Edwina Bartholomew: Watching Dad find out was probably harder than watching Mum, because I think dads are often quite stoic, aren’t they? It was really emotional. I was able to explain to Mum and Dad straight up the nuts and bolts and the practicalities of it, what would happen and the treatment – and that I had to have a biopsy to confirm it. And they’re fairly pragmatic people. It was a really emotional discussion but also they could see that it wasn’t the end of the world and I was going to be OK.

Picture: Steven Chee for Stellar

Stellar: How are your kids managing through this? Have they asked any questions?

Edwina Bartholomew: Because my kids are two and four, I never had to have the conversation with them, which is such a huge relief. For them, there’s no physical difference. I’m actually probably feeling better than I was, not as tired and taking care of myself better. So for them there’s only a plus side – because I’m around more and probably more present than I was before, deliberately.

I’ve been really careful not to mention the word cancer around them. I don’t talk about my treatment, being sick or going to the doctor or going to hospital, because obviously they know those words. I’m very conscious of not having that conversation in the house within earshot of them. When I’m with them it’s just this beautiful little world that belongs to toddlers, completely oblivious to what’s going on everywhere else. They wouldn’t have any idea at all. That’s a really, really beautiful thing.

Stellar: Having to tell your parents and loved ones is difficult enough. Having to share your story with the country is a different thing altogether. On September 6, during Blood Cancer Awareness month, you revealed your diagnosis on Sunrise live on air during your news presenting duties, which I’d imagine wasn’t an easy thing to do.

Edwina Bartholomew: It actually felt like a relief to have it out there. I really wanted to do it on my own terms, at a time that suited me. I’d known for about a month-and-a-half by the time I made that announcement. Even in the studio that morning, I tried to make sure that everyone knew before they heard it on TV because there’s nothing worse when you’re standing in the room with someone and sharing something so personal and you’re finding out in that way. I spent a bit of time afterwards, just over the weekend, writing back to as many people as I could. And then I just stopped. I took some time off and I’ve gone back to working three or four days a week, which has been a huge relief because now it’s moved from being an issue about the initial diagnosis to just taking care of myself, genuinely, this time. It felt like a real weight off my shoulders to actually say it out loud, knowing I had the support of all my colleagues there and all my friends at home and family as well … I’ve never understood what it’s like to be in people’s thoughts and prayers, but now I do. That’s a pretty powerful thing.

Picture: Steven Chee for Stellar

What does your day-to-day life look like now? What’s your prognosis?

I’m really well, and I genuinely can say that now. My test results have been fantastic. I’ve responded really well to the medication. My alarm goes off twice a day, once at 3am to get up and once at 8pm to take my medication, a tablet that costs me about $30 per prescription. It’s extraordinary that we live in this country with access to that kind of healthcare. I’ll have to take it for a couple of years at least. My white blood cell count is almost back to normal. And there’s another indicator that’s looking really good as well. Perspective and mindset have been a big part of the process from the get-go. People can live with this their entire life and because I caught it so early, I could be rid of it in a few years. Ever since this happened, I suddenly have just taken care of myself. I’m all the “frees”: gluten-free, coffee-free, alcohol-free, sugar-free – mostly, [there was a] slight dip during Halloween – I’m exercising, taking time out for myself, reading books. I’m much more present with my kids. I liken it to having an old-school camera and moving the focus. Suddenly everything is a bit sharper. That’s how it feels.

What else have you have learnt about yourself as part of this shift in perspective?

Most days I forget I have cancer and then some days it really smacks you in the face. I recently had pneumonia – and I don’t normally get sick … says she, who’s got cancer. I was wiped out for days. I think until that point, I’d been really hyper-focused on life continuing as normal and this wasn’t going to change me. And then I realised, well, it has changed me innately, both physically and mentally. That was a real adjustment. I had to allow myself to be really sad about it for a bit. That really helped. It makes you realise everything is about my husband, my kids and me in a beautifully selfish way. Everything in our lives now revolves around those important building blocks of our little lives. Other things don’t really matter. It’s like when you have kids and you don’t care that much about cellulite anymore because you kind of accept your body. This is a similar process – your body is just doing the best it possibly can to support you and you’ve just got to do the best you can to support it. Everything else kind of melts away.

Will you take some of these realisations and shifts in perspective that you’ve experienced over the past few months with you forever?

It really shines a light on how you treat yourself. The 24/7 go, go, go approach I had to life for the past 40 years had to shift. This has definitely been a huge takeaway for me that life can’t continue like that. I’ve had to say to work, “I can’t now go back to work five days a week at 3am in the morning. It’s not something that I can do.” To their credit, Channel Seven has been phenomenal about that. Understanding that for my family, for me and my health, that’s not something I can do right now. Having to set really clear parameters around that isn’t something I’ve ever done before. It’s like I finally grew some balls after 20 years of working where I just said, “Right, these are the non-negotiables in my life and I will not compromise on my family, myself, my marriage, my life and my health.” And that’s it. And wow, that’s been powerful.

‘It really shines a light on how you treat yourself.’ Picture: Getty Images

Listen to the full interview with Edwina Bartholomew on the new episode of the Stellar podcast, Something To Talk About:

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could have those realisations in a gentler way?

I don’t think you get [that] twice. It could have been a lot different. I could have gone into that doctor’s office that day and they could have said, “You have four weeks to live” or “Go home and sort out your affairs because this is the end.” I know there would be people [reading] this for whom that was the case, or for their family member. Coming so close to that harsh dose of mortality and walking a line close to death makes you feel more alive. And it wasn’t the case for me. It wasn’t the worst-case scenario – it’s the best-case scenario. So how do I make the best life out of that possible? What a gift that is.

Edwina Bartholomew and her husband, Neil Varcoe.

During her emotional announcement on the set of Sunrise.

What’s your advice to other women and mothers, or indeed anyone reading this, who feels as if they’re at the bottom of the to-do list?

I had absolutely no indication of what was going on in my body. I wasn’t listening. And if I was, I probably wouldn’t have done anything about it. I decided I should put my health first and I should get a bunch of tests just because I’d turned 40 and thought “I’ll prioritise this. Wouldn’t it be great to have a baseline of health in case something happens in the future?” And look what happened. So if you’ve been putting off that test or you’re so consumed with life and kids, go to your doctor, get a check, a routine blood test, or get the mammogram you’ve been putting off or the pap smear or whatever it is, because that decision could be what changes your life for the better. And if you don’t make that decision, it could be the decision that changes your life for the worse.

This is Stellar’s final issue of the year, we’re in December, a lot of people are starting to reflect on the year that was. When you look back on 2024, I imagine it was probably the most life-changing year of your life. Would you go through it all again?

I absolutely would. I think it’s too early to say it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me because we’ll see how things pan out. But the most powerful thing that happened this year is finding out. I felt the extraordinary force of love from everyone – everyone I’ve ever met. I heard from ex-boyfriends, real estate agents, my mortgage broker, my phone absolutely lit up. I really felt what it was like to be loved. And I learnt what it is to love. So deeply. And to realise what’s so important to me. I would never give that back. And that will be with me for the rest of my life. It has been life-changing in the best possible way.

Listen to the full interview with Edwina Bartholomew on the latest episode of the Stellar podcast, Something To Talk About.

See the full cover shoot with her in the new issue of Stellar out on Sunday via The Sunday Telegraph (NSW), Sunday Herald Sun (VIC), The Sunday Mail (QLD) and Sunday Mail (SA). For more from Stellar, click here.