Kathy Bates: ‘I was told to keep my cancer secret’

WHEN Hollywood legend Kathy Bates was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, she was warned she must keep it secret.

Kathy Bates says she was told to keep her cancer diagnosis a secret or risk losing work.

KATHY Bates has been very public about her battles with both ovarian and breast cancer, but once upon a time she was told to keep it a secret from the public.

“Back in 2003, when I had ovarian cancer, my agent told me not to tell anyone about it,” she told WebMD. “Even my gynaecologist, whose husband worked in the business, warned that I shouldn’t come out with it because of the stigma in Hollywood. So I was very careful.”

The 69-year-old American Horror Story star changed her mind as soon as she saw another famous figure take her battle with the disease public.

A Melissa Etheridge concert made Kathy Bates decide to be more open about her diagnosis.

“But then I saw Melissa Etheridge doing a concert and just wailing on her guitar with her bald head, and I thought, ‘Wow, I wanna be her!’ So when the breast cancer diagnosis came, I knew I wanted to be honest about it,” she said.

Bates underwent a double mastectomy and never had reconstructive surgery, so she has no breasts — and wants to keep it that way.

“I’ve joined the ranks of women who are going flat, as they say,” she told WebMD, adding that she won’t even wear prosthetics for a role. “I don’t have breasts — so why do I have to pretend like I do? That stuff isn’t important. I’m just grateful to have been born at a time when the research made it possible for me to survive. I feel so incredibly lucky to be alive.”

This story originally appeared on the New York Post and is republished here with permission.