Marie Helvin not interested in dating after beating breast cancer
Marie Helvin has no interest in dating until she's fully "healed" after her battle with breast cancer.
The 71-year-old model - who was previously married to photographer David Bailey - was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2022 after she found a lump on her right breast and she later underwent a mastectomy followed by reconstructive surgery - and she's now revealed she's put her love life on hold until she feels totally better.
She told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper: "I’m very single. And I’m not really interested at the moment. Maybe later when the healing process has really kicked in; I might think about it then. But at the moment I’m not interested, I am more interested in my progress."
Marie also spoke about her experience with reconstructive surgery and declared she's very impressed with the results overall.
She explained: "It’s amazing how it looks, how it feels – they can do fantastic things today. I mean, it’s not perfect. I don’t have cleavage on one side, I now travel with a ‘chicken fillet’ to all my photoshoots."
Marie previously admitted being diagnosed with the deadly disease came as a huge shock because she was convinced she was very healthy because she eats well and works out.
She told the Daily Mail newspaper: "I had a vision, an idea of myself, I suppose, of how fit and healthy I was.
"As a model, my body was my instrument and I have always looked after it. I don't drink, I don't smoke, I exercise every day, so I guess it made me think that something like this could not happen to me because I didn't fit the profile.
"Now I know what a lot of rubbish that is. It's made me realise that appearances are deceiving."
Marie drew on her experience from her mother's battle with the disease during the 1980s and went into "survival mode" following her diagnosis.
She added to the outlet: "I was determined not to panic. It helped that I had helped nurse my mum through breast cancer in the 1980s - returning to Hawaii for a month to look after her.
"So I'd seen what it looked like and what she had experienced, but also that she made it through and survived another 25 years. So, of course, I was scared, but not as scared as someone who has never witnessed anyone going through that. I made a choice to place my faith and myself."