Reality star Demi Jones has thanked fans for their support after revealing she has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer, and said she is “sad and in shock”.
The TV personality, 22, who rose to fame on the 2020 series of ITV2 dating show Love Island, previously revealed she has had a tumour removed and will need more surgery to remove the rest of her thyroid.
Sharing photos of herself cuddling her dog, she wrote on Instagram: “I’ll get through this, and I’ll do it with a smile on my face. Thank you for all the love.”
Speaking on her Instagram story, she added: “I’m sad but I’m kind of in shock. It doesn’t even feel real that I’ve got cancer. It’s kind of like a weird thing.”
Jones said she knew she had cancer as soon as she walked into the room to meet her consultant and saw there was a Macmillan nurse there too.
She said she maintained her composure during the appointment but added: “As soon as I walked out of the room and it was just me and my mum, I cried.
“Even though I’m going to get through this and I’m going to be absolutely fine, I just know I’ve got to go through this journey now.”
Jones has been updating her followers on Instagram since discovering a lump in her neck in early April.
She said: “It turns out that was actually a tumour, so I’ve been living all these years with a tumour in my neck and I had no idea, which is so scary.”
Jones entered the villa on day 16 of Love Island 2020 and made it to the final, placing third alongside Luke Mabbott, who she had partnered up with on the show. They have since split. Thyroid cancer is a rare type of cancer that affects the thyroid, a small gland at the base of the neck that produces hormones. It is most common in people aged in their 30s and women are two to three times more likely to develop it than men, according to the NHS.