Magda’s Brave Face: Beloved Aussie Star, 64, Jokes About Her ‘Chemo Couture’ Shaved Head in Shock Cancer Update as She Battles ‘Nasty’ and ‘Aggressive’ Stage 4 Blood Cancer from Her Hospital Bed
- Beloved comedian Magda Szubanski has shared a brave and upbeat health update as she continues her fight against a ‘very aggressive’ stage 4 cancer.
- In a new video, the 64-year-old joked about her shaved head, calling her new look ‘chemo couture’ while revealing a little-known secret about her iconic character, Sharon Strzelecki.
- The cheerful clip comes after a more harrowing update in August where she admitted the brutal chemotherapy was ‘smacking me around right now’.
- Szubanski was diagnosed in May with a ‘very rare’ and ‘nasty’ form of blood cancer called Mantle Cell Lymphoma and is undergoing an intense treatment.
Australian screen legend Magda Szubanski has put on a brave face in a powerful new health update, joking about her ‘chemo couture’ shaved head as she continues her brutal fight against a ‘very aggressive’ stage 4 cancer.
The 64-year-old comedian, who revealed her shock diagnosis in May, appeared upbeat and cheerful in an Instagram video posted on Sunday, where she thanked US drag queens Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamolodchikova for being fans of her hit show *Kath & Kim*.
Despite her ongoing battle, Szubanski was full of laughs as she quipped about her new look. ‘Mine is courtesy of chemo couture,’ she joked, after revealing her iconic character Sharon Strzelecki’s bob haircut was a nod to 70s ice-skater Dorothy Hamill’s ‘sensible, functional fitness hair-do’.
The lighthearted post is in stark contrast to a more raw update she shared from her hospital bed in August. At the time, while thanking a 10-year-old fan for cheering her up, she made the harrowing admission that the treatment was taking its toll. ‘Chemo is smacking me around right now,’ she confessed.
The beloved star shocked the nation in May when she announced she was battling Mantle Cell Lymphoma, a rare blood cancer she described as ‘one of the nasty ones’.
‘It is one of the nasty ones, unfortunately,’ she said in her initial announcement, where she appeared with a freshly shaved head. ‘It’s pretty confronting. It is full on. But new treatments keep coming down the pipeline all the time.’
The star is currently undergoing an intense treatment known as the ‘Nordic protocol’ to fight the disease, which was discovered ‘incidentally’ after a routine breast screening showed swollen lymph nodes.
Her ongoing health battle forced her to accept her recent induction into the Logies Hall of Fame via a pre-recorded video, where she defiantly told the audience: ‘I am not being awarded this honour because I have got the cancer. I am getting this because of 40 years of hard work’.