Create a free account to access exclusive content, play games, solve puzzles, test your pop-culture knowledge and receive special offers.Already have an account? Login
Katie Stevens poses on the red carpet during Disney's 'Aladdin' movie premiere at the El Capitan Theatre on May 21, 2019 in Hollywood, California.ETIENNE LAURENT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Sharing her story. Katie Stevens opened up about having a breast cancer scare similar to what her The Bold Type character, Jane Sloan, went through ahead of her wedding.
Trista Sutter, Selena Gomez, Ellen DeGeneres and more stars have opened up about their unexpected illnesses and injuries — read more
The actress, 26, prefaced her explanation by noting that “there are some things that are out of our control,” though she emphasized that she is “100% okay.” She also hesitated to divulge the details but was inspired by her fictional alter-ego.
“I feel that based on the fact that I play Jane on The Bold Type, I feel a responsibility to share my own personal story,” she wrote via Instagram on Friday, September 20. Stevens then revealed she gave herself a self exam on Wednesday, September 18, and noticed something was off.
“There was a lump in my breast. I had never felt one before, and it didn’t feel like normal breast tissue,” she continued. “It was clearly a lump, and that was alarming since I do these exams on myself regularly to have a clear knowledge of my breasts in case this circumstance ever occurred.”
See which celebs triumphed over the disease — photos
She added: “I was in a panic, so emotional… My wedding is soon, I’m in the middle of shooting this season.. I needed clarity. I made an appointment with a breast specialist immediately, got an ultrasound, and quickly got the results that I had a benign tumor called a fibroadenoma. I feel very lucky and grateful and was able to breathe a huge sigh of relief. I have to continue to monitor it every 6 months, but women get these all the time, many women in my family have them too.”
Stevens went on to encourage her followers to keep up with their health. “If you have something going on that you think might be a health issue, don’t wait. Get it checked out,” she wrote. “It’s scary to find out that something might be wrong, but the quicker you get the information, the quicker you can do something about it, OR (in my case) the quicker you can have peace of mind! Knowledge is power.”
Many celebrities have spoken out about their personal battles with breast cancer over the years. Julia Louis-Dreyfus went public with her breast cancer diagnosis in September 2017 via Instagram. Nearly one year later, she had successfully beaten the illness and returned to work on Veep. “It sounds kind of corny, but there’s something about after […]
The Faking It alum reiterated that she now has “an awareness of my body that I didn’t have before” and is “happy and healthy and appreciating this body that I’m in.”
Stevens’ character on the Freeform series carries the BRCA gene, which means she is more likely to develop breast or ovarian cancer. As such, Jane froze her eggs and made other health decisions due, in part, to the fact that her mother died from the same illness.
The Haunt star announced her engagement to songwriter Paul DiGiovanni in February 2018 after four years together. Earlier this month, Stevens hinted via Instagram that their wedding is near, writing, “So close to forever with you.”
