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Delta Goodrem: My journey with cancer is still quite present

Delta Goodrem revealed that even though she beat cancer 18 years ago, it's something that's still very much in her life today (Image: Getty Images)
Delta Goodrem revealed that even though she beat cancer 18 years ago, it's something that's still very much in her life today (Image: Getty Images)

When she was just 18 and at the start of her singing and acting career, Delta Goodrem was dealt a blow whens he was diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma. Thankfully the star beat cancer after going through chemotherapy and radiotherapy, however, it’s something she says is still very much in her life.

Speaking on White Wine Question Time, the Aussie star revealed that people still contact her weekly to chat to her about their experience of cancer, which means what she went through is very much still something in her life.

“My journey with cancer has been quite present in the sense of still speaking to people about it so consistently,” she said.

Watch: Delta Goodrem talks about learning to speak again

She continued: “You speak to a couple people a week who are currently in the journey, and they're in the fight. Somebody asked me the other day if it felt like yesterday or ages ago, and I said, ‘Well, it does feel like another lifetime ago', but some of the moments that I experienced in that moment, are still so present.”

Read more: How Olivia Newton-John helped Delta Goodrem through cancer

Describing herself as a “a proud cancer survivor”, Goodrem said that even though psychologically she’s dealt with the fight she went through, she does still get emotional that she survived the ordeal.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - FEBRUARY 04: Delta Goodrem arrives at Bondi Icebergs on February 04, 2019 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Hanna Lassen/WireImage)
Delta Goodrem in 2019 (Hanna Lassen/WireImage)

She told Thornton: “I don't get emotional as much anymore… But occasionally I might see something and maybe a happy tear of being grateful because I'm here in full flight of health.”

Listen: Delta Goodrem talks about having Olivia Newton-John as her mentor

Goodrem, who is just about to release her seventh studio album Bridge Over Troubled Waters, says she believes being able to connect with cancer survivors is a “gift”, however the Sydney-based star has gone one-stop further, launching her own foundation last year.

The Delta Goodrem Foundation is run in partnership with St. Vincent's Hospital and the Kinghorn Cancer Centre and aims to raise funds for innovative blood cancer research.

Read more: Tracey Emin has ‘never been so happy’ after surgery for cancer

The hospital not only treated her when she had cancer, but also through her more recent health experience where she suffered nerve damage and lost the ability to speak.

Asked what inspired her to create the foundation, Goodrem said she likes “reaching out and touching someone's lives, inspiring their hearts” and she hopes it can be her lasting legacy.

“It's a responsibility to make sure that you do good for other people in this world — and that's important,” said the singer.

“You are a role model. It doesn't mean that I’ve always got it right, but it does mean I've understood that there is a responsibility with that. I do want to touch people's lives through song or in some way or another.”

Alongside her album, Goodrem has released a book of the same title, which talks about the meanings behind the songs on her new album and also charts her two-year struggle to speak again.

Hear Delta Goodrem talk about getting ‘that’ call from Sir Elton John on the latest episode of White Wine Question Time. Listen now on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.


Watch: Delta Goodrem talks about Elton John calling her on her first day of chemo