Fergison told OK! that she visited her GP after she began spotting blood and having backache. She was then referred for further tests and a biopsy.

The actress subsequently received a stage two cancer diagnosis, before undergoing a full hysterectomy and a course of radiotherapy.

Fergison, who has a son Alex from a previous marriage, married her husband Yassine Al-Jermoni in 2011.

She said: "Any thought of Yass and I having a child together had been taken away. We may not have gone down that route, of course, but we'd lost the ability to choose."

Having a hysterectomy had an impact on her emotionally as well as physically, she explained.

"It brought on early menopause too. In terms of how I saw myself as a woman, it felt as if it had all come to an end.”

Fergison added that she had been worried that a new bout of backache was a sign that her cancer had returned but tests showed her initial treatment had "got all the cancer".

She urged women to seek medical help if necessary.

“Listen to your body. Even if it’s the smallest concern - go and get checked because if you haven't got health, you've not got no wealth.”

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