Not so fast! Real Housewives of Atlanta star Marlo Hampton is clearing up rumors that she’s been diagnosed with breast cancer exclusively with Us Weekly.
The reality star, 43, spoke about her recent health scare during a Wednesday, May 15, episode of Us’ “Hot Hollywood” podcast after her Instagram Story asked fans for their prayers.
Hampton explained to Us that while she did have large lumps in her breast, they turned out to be cysts that have since decreased in size.
“A couple weeks back … I came home and it was crazy, something was like, ‘Touch your breast.’ So I’m touching … my breast, right? And I felt a huge lump. I mean huge, to where I’m, like, panicking.”
The TV personality continued: “I call up my best friend, I’m like ‘What the heck is going on? Where did this just come from on my left breast, just out of nowhere?’ So of course, I make an appointment go to the doctor.”
Hampton, who clarified that her breasts are all-natural, shared that the doctor told her she had five large cysts, and recommended a cyst aspiration, or a procedure to have them drained.
“She said, ‘Just to be on the safe side, I will send the fluids out to make sure they’re benign,’” Hampton told Us.
The businesswoman later shared her fears about the procedure with fans on Instagram Stories. “I’m like, ‘OK you guys, I didn’t tell you a couple weeks ago I felt a lump on my breast and today is the day I come and I’m having a cyst aspiration. … I’m a little scared,'” she recalled. “I said, ‘Hey, keep me in your prayers, make sure it’s not cancerous,’ and everyone turned that into I have cancer.”
As it turns out, drainage wasn’t necessary: Hampton’s cysts decreased in size to the point where her doctor advised keeping an eye on the lumps, instead.
The health scare was enough to shake the Bravo star to the core, however. “It was really a wakeup call,” she confessed. “It scared the living Oh, my God, out of me,” she said. “Oh, my God, it freaked me out.”
The entrepreneur explained that even though her castmate Gregg Leakes’ cancer battle was close to home, she didn’t contemplate self-care until her brush with the disease. “It’s not until it happens to you,” she told Us.
Hampton is looking forward to Leakes’ cancer-free diagnosis, however. “That’s a game changer. [Gregg and NeNe] went through a lot this season with cancer, so just to know that it’s gone … that’s just a blessing,” she said, noting that she was affected by their pain. “It was stressing me out and I was seeing her cry and I was seeing him in tears … when you’re my friend, I’m going through it with you.”
A release date for season 12 of the Real Housewives of Atlanta has yet to be announced.
