Gemma Collins having gene test after her mum was diagnosed with cancer

Gemma Collins is getting a life-saving gene test after her mother Joan was diagnosed with breast cancer.

The Diva Forever star, 42, was left shaken after learning her mum Joan, 67, found a cancerous lump between her breast and armpit.

Television personality Gemma, who has also lost a family member to cancer, has spoken to her doctor about undergoing a BRCA gene test, which screens her DNA to see if she has inherited a faulty gene which means she may be more susceptible to cancer.

Former The Only Way Is Essex star told The Sun she broke down in tears the moment her mother told her she’d had cancer over the phone. 

She explained: ‘It was over the phone. I was in the back of a taxi in London and I was like, “Are you all right, mum? Where are you?” — as we say every day, ten times a day.

‘She said, “Ah I didn’t want to tell you, but I’ve had a lump in my breast”. I was like, “What?”, and she said, “But it’s fine I’ve got the all-clear”. I was like, “Oh, my God. Why didn’t you tell me?”‘

Gemma said Joan chose not to tell her daughter about her diagnosis as she was filming Diva Forever at the time.

Former Celebrity Big Brother housemate Gemma said her mother found the lump on the right side of her breast and doctors caught it ‘in the nick of time’.

She added: ‘She knew that I would have fallen apart in the worst-case scenario so she kept it to herself because she didn’t want to upset me — but she was very scared.’

Gemma praised the NHS for their swift action, saying they removed the lump straight away.

Joan was diagnosed in 2016 with ductal carcinoma in situ, which means the cells in the lining of the breast tissue become cancerous, and she now attends a screening every year.

The cancerous cells are contained inside the milk ducts and have not spread to the surrounding breast tissue.

Hereditary breast cancer is most commonly caused by an inherited mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene.

Devastating news: The Diva Forever star, 42, was left shaken after learning her mum Joan, 67 (right), found a cancerous lump between her breast and armpit

If a woman has inherited a mutated copy of these genes from either parent, they are at a greater risk of developing breast cancer, with up to a 70 per cent chance of getting the disease by the age of 80. 

Gemma noted that her mother is lucky to be a breast cancer survivor and she hopes telling her story will encourage other people to go for checks.

Screen star is currently taking part in The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up to Cancer and has decided only now to speak out about her mother’s ordeal.

It comes after Gemma revealed she is having ice spa sessions after enduring a heart attack scare.

She ended up in hospital after having palpitations last year as she battles what she thinks is long COVID and has been plunging herself in sub-zero temperatures in a bid to combat the issue and rebuild her immune system.

She told OK! Magazine: ‘The palpitations got so bad I thought I was having a heart attack. 

‘I called an ambulance and the paramedics did an ECG [electrocardiogram] and said, “We need to take you to hospital.” I said to myself, “Great, this is it. My time is up.”

‘But, thank God, it was a condition called costochondritis, which can cause severe chest pain and happens because of coughing or an infection. 

‘I think I got it from being constantly run down and ill. I do think I’ve got long Covid because I haven’t been able to shift it and it’s been in my system for months. 

‘I’ve been so unwell and it doesn’t matter what I take or do, it’s not going. I’ve been going for loads of sessions at Ice Health Cryotherapy in Kensington and I use this thermal shock machine, which you get into standing up and your head pops out of the top. It goes from a temperature of +70C to -196C in seconds.’

Gemma went on to add that the practice of Cryotheraphy can help with ‘any illness’ and would like to have her own machine at home if money were no object.

She added: ‘Cryotherapy helps with any illness and it really boosts your immune system. I’d love my own machine at home but they’re about £250,000 to buy.’

Hope: Gemma noted that her mother is lucky to be a breast cancer survivor and she hopes telling her story will encourage other people to go for checks (L-R: Gemma, Tim Key, Jessica Hynes and AJ Odudu pictured for The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up to Cancer this year)