‘SARAH HARDING'S GOT TO TRY AND STAY STRONG AND GET THROUGH IT'

LOOSE WOMEN’S CAROL MCGIFFIN AND HUSBAND MARK CASSIDY SHOW US WHERE THEY’VE SPENT LOCKDOWN IN FRANCE AND CAROL TELLS OK!’S CHRISSIE REEVES HER ADVICE FOR THE GIRLS ALOUD STAR ON BATTLING BREAST CANCER

- CHRISSIE REEVES

When OK! caught up with ITV star Carol McGiffin at her home in the south of France, it was hard not to fall in love with her and her husband Mark Cassidy’s quarantine life.

But before you go thinking how idyllic it all looks, behind the scenes Carol has suffered anxiety and stress about the state of the world.

Just as lockdown was announced, the outspoken Loose Women panellist and Mark jumped on a plane to their second home, a place they bought as a result of Carol’s yearlong battle with breast cancer back in 2014. Carol tells us, “We bought this house as a result of being ill because we thought, ‘Why not? Let’s just do it.’ It’s the best thing we ever did.”

After news hit the headlines of Sarah Harding’s current battle with the same type of cancer, Carol explains, “It’s a very personal thing, everybody deals with it in their own way but it’s extremely difficult when you see a diagnosis like that, especially because she’s only 38. I was 54, but 38 is so young and hers has already spread so it’s a double blow for her.”

One person who helped Carol through that time is Mark – who she has been with since 2008. She reflects, “I don’t think I’d have made it through without him. Mark was my absolute rock. He never dramatised any of it and he coped so well.”