Yahoo News Anastacia bares mastectomy scars in naked photoshoot
Anastacia has spoken openly about her two battles with breast cancer in an attempt to raise awareness and money for future research, but now she's gone one step further and revealed the scars of her numerous surgeries for the first time.
The multi-million-selling popstar and recent Strictly Come Dancing contestant has revealed her reasons for showing the public her scars now, while posing in her first ever naked photoshoot with Fault magazine.
"I'm nervous to let people see them, I really am, but I want to be able to go on the beach and not have the first photographs taken of my body to be ones that I didn't give," Anastacia said.
"I want to be free and knowing that this photo-shoot will be out there and available, I can be on the beach and not worry about what people think.
"Paparazzi can take a photo of me breathing in and call it a gut or say all the things they want, that doesn't scare me, but my scars are a part of me and I want to be the one to reveal them.
"If paparazzi photographed them, I'd feel like I was being shamed, but being able to release them this way, I feel extremely empowered."
Anastacia added: "I resented them - I resented how large they were but I also understood why I needed to go through all the physical changes.
"My scars are part of my journey and a reminder of all the things I went through with my mastectomy. At this point, I feel great to show them in a way that's artistic with a respected team in fashion because it's transformed my body's 'FAULTs' into art."
When Anastacia underwent her many surgeries, doctors couldn't take muscle tissue from where they normally would for this particular procedure.
"The surgeons had to go around my tattoo; the scars really should have been on my bra line but to graft skin, the surgeons needed to find a place that wasn't compromised," she explained.
"I wasn't expecting it to be as long but it was the only way."
The star also spoke about why she had to pull out of a Strictly dance-off when she found herself in the bottom two during her time in the competition.
"I just thought it was a sore muscle and I just waited for it to pass but it got progressively worse, and then I felt a lump which I knew couldn't be cancer because I didn't have any breast tissue left, but it had to be something," she said.
"I went to see a doctor and as it turns out it was an inflamed scar tissue. I found this out on Saturday morning and the show was filmed live on Saturday night.
"I decided to continue with the performance, and we took out the lift to help me do that. By the end of the performance I was in a lot of pain, and knew I needed to see a specialist.
"Then I was told there was a dance-off. I knew I was physically unable to perform, and I was terrified about what damage I had already done.
"I began to cry and said, 'Sorry, I'll get my things and go and thanks for the opportunity' and I was ready to leave… I didn't know they had contingencies for occurrences like that."
Anastacia will now embark on a new headline tour of the UK in 2017, playing her hits up and down the country.
Tickets are on sale now and the full list of dates is as follows:
May 25 - Bristol, Colston Hall
May 27 - Manchester, O2 Apollo
May 28 - Birmingham, Symphony Hall
June 3 - Sheffield, Sheffield City Hall
June 4 - Cardiff, St. David's Hall
June 5 - Nottingham, Royal Concert Hall
June 7 - Ipswich, Regent Theatre
June 8 - London, Eventim Apollo Hammersmith
June 10 - Bournemouth, BIC Solent Hall
June 11 - Brighton, Brighton Dome
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