Emmerdale John Sugden star shares update on famous partner's health battle

Emmerdale's Oliver Farnworth had an update on his famous partner's breast cancer battle during a heartfelt interview with Christine Lampard on ITV's Lorraine.

Addressing the topic sensitively, Christine wanted to know how Oliver's girlfriend Samantha Womack was doing. The soap star who is best known for his role as John Sugden was more than happy to speak about his partner and even hailed the Eastenders star for being so strong throughout her treatment.

Speaking to stand-in host Christine, he said: "She's doing incredibly well," as he later added: "I'm in awe of her," after a touching and sweet tribute as he blew a kiss via the camera.

He went on to detail Samantha's diagnosis, in hope of raising awareness for women to check their breasts regularly for lumps or anything out of the ordinary.

Oliver met his TV star girlfriend in 2019 after meeting in the West End while starring in the play The Girl On The Train. Just a few years later, Samantha was diagnosed with breast cancer in August 2022.

The actor hailed Samantha for her "strength" and "determination" after a terrifying scare but managing to carry on with everything else going on in their lives at the time. He said: "She's doing incredibly well and I've got to say a massive shout out to her, lots of love," as he blew a kiss into the camera lens.

"She's been so kind of strong and determined through it," added the Emmerdale star. He added: "I was just thinking of when she got her diagnosis, she didn't have any symptoms it was a routine check up and she just kind of felt something but she couldn't feel anything physically."

Oliver went on to tell Christine how they had been very fortunate to catch the disease when they did. He explained: "And we were very lucky because they detected quite a high grade of cancer and were able to deal with that quite quickly but she then went through the chemo and the radiotherapy.

"It was her final radio session and she was determined to finish the show she was in at the time, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, and that coincided with us moving to Spain."

Full of admiration, the TV star gushed: "So she was having radiotherapy, moving house and doing a West End show and just felt with it so bravely and strongly with so much dignity and just determination so I'm in awe of her."

Continuing to raise awareness, Oliver detailed how important it was to attend routine checks and for women to ensure they are looking out for any signs at home. Fortunately, his girlfriend's cancer was picked up as part of a routine check.

Christine went on to share details for the Lorraine campaign, Change and Check.

Lorraine airs weekdays on ITV, from 9am