The Traitors’ Olivia opens up about losing her eye due to cancer
One of The Traitors' newest stars has opened up about a heartbreaking cancer diagnosis that caused her to lose an eye.
Olivia Deane, a beautician and model from Horsham, is currently starring in the third series of The Traitors as a Faithful.
Before the new series launched on Wednesday night (January 1), Olivia recently spoke to The Telegraph about a cancer diagnosis that changed her life forever, as it led to the removal of her right eye.
In her interview, the 26-year-old noted that she was just 12 years old when she noticed that her vision had suddenly gone “funny”. She was subsequently referred by her optician to a specialist hospital unit, and she was diagnosed with retinoblastoma in her right eye.
"To this day I'm the oldest person ever to be diagnosed with retinoblastoma in Britain, a form of cancer that's usually found in children under four – so in reality, no one knew what was going to happen. Specsavers saved my life, I know now. Had I not gone for that check up I would have died,” Olivia admitted.
Despite going through chemotherapy, Olivia later needed to have an operation to remove her right eye.
"I was going to be disfigured, I thought, with a horrible, scary crater in my face," she stated, adding: "The first thing my mum said when I woke up was that I looked beautiful. She was my guiding light through all of this.”
Olvia, who now wears a prosthetic eye, revealed to the BBC that if she wins The Traitors this year, she will donate some of her prize money to charity.
“I definitely want to donate some money to the Childhood Eye Cancer Trust. They've done so much for me, they helped me when I lost my hair, they helped me get a wig. They've helped me with getting my perfect prosthetic eye which I'm so happy with. I've been so unhappy with previous prosthetic eyes and people wouldn't even notice now,” she concluded, adding that she is “so grateful” to the charity.
The Traitors continues tonight at 9pm on BBC One.
