“I’m really aware now, having been there, of how many different sorts of breast cancer there are and how many different stories there are,” she says. “So I’m reluctant to say that I had terrible burns during radiation because you think, ‘Oh, some woman reading this is about to go in and have radiation’, and it’s quite rare to have the degree of burns I had, but they were [severe] and I’m still recovering.”
Scott says she was too physically sick to miss performing – she’s been a stand-up and TV favourite on everything from Spicks and Specks to Have You Been Paying Attention? for decades – and she can’t imagine, at this stage, returning to stand-up.
Denise Scott and Matt Okine at this year’s Logie Awards in August.Credit: Getty Images for TV WEEK Logie Awards
“It’s a very powerful thing that’s happened in that it feels like anything I’ve talked about on stage, before cancer, is now pretty irrelevant,” Scott says. “I’d like to talk about it because – but I’m not sure how – there is a lot of funny from it, but there’s also a lot of nothing, a lot of treacle time.
“And John, my partner, I never thought I’d need a carer. That blew my mind and upset me. And when the radiation, when the burns and stuff happened, I’d be in a wheelchair being wheeled from the waiting room to the radiation room – because I just couldn’t even walk – and I’m there thinking, ‘What the f---? I’m bald and slumped, what is this?’ But people kept saying, ‘No, you’ll feel better’.”
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Scott’s first appearance after completing treatment was at this year’s Logie awards, where she was nominated for best lead actress in a comedy. The show was nominated for best scripted comedy. She received a standing ovation.
“That was my first night out in about literally a year,” she says.
Now that she is feeling better, Scott has revelled in filming series two, in which there are more active scenes for Maggie, including one where she was offered an intimacy coach.
“Humbled is the word because I do not take for granted that this cancer is not going to come back,” Scott says. “It has a high risk of return. I still take medication and I feel well now. And I have managed to live more in the moment. That’s another sort of cliche, but it means I’m really whacking on the weight again!”









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