Sarah Harding says the Christmas just gone was likely to be her last

Girls Aloud star Sarah Harding has revealed that doctors told her the Christmas just gone was likely to be her last.

The 39-year-old announced last year that she had breast cancer - and has now said that the coronavirus pandemic led to her putting off getting a check-up.

In an extract of her memoir, called Hear Me Out, Harding reveals how the prognosis affected her.

In the snippet - which was published in The Times - Harding said: "In December my doctor told me that the upcoming Christmas would probably be my last. I don't want an exact prognosis. I don't know why anyone would want that.

"Comfort and being as pain-free as possible is what's important to me now."

She added: "I'm trying to live and enjoy every second of my life, however long it might be. I am having a glass of wine or two during all this, because it helps me relax.

"I'm sure some people might think that's not a great idea, but I want to try to enjoy myself.

"I'm at a stage now where I don't know how many months I have left.

"Who knows, maybe I'll surprise everyone, but that's how I'm looking at things."

Harding, who joined the girl band in 2002 following the TV show Popstars: The Rivals, also spoke of how she put off seeking medical attention due to the coronavirus pandemic.

After noticing a painful lump on her breast, the singer took large numbers of painkillers to dull the pain.

She said: "One day I woke up realising that I'd been in denial.

"Yes, there was a lockdown, yes, there was a pandemic, but it was almost as if I'd been using that as an excuse not to face up to the fact that something was very wrong.

"I called and spoke to someone at the local hospital.

"A woman asked me exactly how many painkillers I'd taken, and when I told her, she told me I needed to go to A&E."

The Girls Aloud singer also tells of how she contracted sepsis, which required her to be put in a coma.

She had a port inserted in her body to allow for chemotherapy drugs to be administered, but the site grew painful and began to swell.

It was discovered she had gone into sepsis - a severe reaction to infection.

The Girls Aloud member said: "Straight away, my port was removed, but with both my lungs and my kidneys failing, doctors decided to put me into an induced coma.

"Even then, the doctor wasn't sure he was going to be able to pull me back from it, so advised Mum to prepare for the worst."

After two weeks, Harding was brought out of the coma but was still on a ventilator.

"Even once I was off the ventilator, I couldn't speak properly," she said.

"All I could do was make noises that sounded like a chimpanzee trying to communicate."

Girls Aloud - famous for songs like Sound of the Underground and The Promise - disbanded as a group after just over 10 years in 2013.