Sarah Beeny

[Softoprider]

I watch her programmes on TV, particularly the latest one about the house she built in Somereset (I think). It seems to me that she is on the TV a lot with new programmes all about property. I get that she makes good telly but I wince when the husband and the sons are interviewed - particularly the husband who does not seem to have a job but has plenty to say.
This latest programme I watched last night about her breast cancer made me feel very uncomfortable and sad.
She's got cancer, she has had chemo and a double mastectomy and yet she made light of it with the sons cutting her hair and the husband talking as if it were something and nothing. When her hair fell out and she cried so did I. I just wish she could have kept this part of her life private and not used the awfulness of it all to make money.
I do hope she makes a full recovery as I like her but this was all too damn much and for anyone else suffering from breast cancer I hope they find it as easy as she appeared to make it but I doubt it.
The husband makes me cringe. Sorry but he does. He's not famous but you wouldn't know it

Her mother died of breast cancer when she was 10 and she said she wanted to make the programme to help other women. I think it’s a good thing to do and I don’t think she made light of it at all. After her mastectomies she said how painful it was. Anything that removes the stigma about cancer and women coming forward has got to be a good thing.

@Groutyonehereagain

Yes me too and a mastectomy. It was tough. It was also private

Good for you!

Doesn't make your experience the same as everyone else's. Nor does it give you any right to judge how others deal with their diagnosis.

Any program made which encourages just one person to get something they are concerned about checked deserves praise and recognition. Not judgment.

Actually her husband is quite a well-known artist.
Firstly, she's a free-lance television presenter. She may have cancer but she still needs money and still needs to work. Secondly, it's her choice, her cancer and her right to cope in anyway she sees fit. You don't have to watch it. Others may find it helpful. Their choice too whether or not to watch it.

I don’t understand the need for certain mumsnetters to attack women with cancer just because they also happen to be wealthy. Saw the same on some posts about Deborah James!
I watched this programme and found it really helpful. I too lost my mother from metastatic breast cancer and live with the worry that I my develop breast cancer in the future as Sarah sad she has too for 40 years.
Sarah may well be wealthy but all the money in the world doesn’t cushion the trauma of losing a parent to cancer and Sarah lost her when she was just 10 and has now gone through the trauma of thinking she may leave her own children motherless after being diagnosed with cancer herself.

You sound horribly jealous that she isn't as miserable as you. Her cancer journey is hers and she is doing it her way. If you don't like it, don't watch it

Outrageous take on the documentary, my impression after watching it is that we should try to not be overwhelmed with fear if receiving a breast cancer diagnosis. There was a message of hope. Supported by statistics out today showing a vast improvement in breast cancer survival rates. What I didn't appreciate was the misogynistic comments made by doctors relating to her mother's cancer treatment which appeared brutal by comparison to what happens today. So there are observable differences which we can be thankful for. Don't begrudge Sarah Beeney her experience

So presumably artists and writers don't have 'proper' jobs. Sheeesh!

I feel like I may have watched a different programme to you? I think the fact that she compared how treatments and prognosis have changed and improved for some breast cancer sufferers since her mum died tragically young did not take away from her expressing personal fears and the negative side-effects she suffered.
Her husband spoke movingly of lying awake at night, worrying. It was a very personal story and moving.
Having been in a family facing a terminal diagnosis of a parent, I would say no one has the right to judge how that feels or how they express themselves.
I don't underestimate the additional worries of families going through this with financial worries, but it doesn't mean she can't tell her story because she is rich.

I didn't know we were obliged to watch programmes we find unpleasant. I wasn't even aware of this programme and wouldn't touch something like that with a bargepole.

But that's your experience, not hers, everyone is totally different. She has the right to do illness in whatever way she fancies!

She has lived her life in the public eye for decades so she won't have the same understanding of privacy as you do.

You could say the same about Deborah James. She was an extremely privileged cancer sufferer who was highly intelligent. She jetted off to the sun when she could and had a flashy lifestyle far beyond the average cancer sufferer. But she used it to raise awareness of her disease and raise money.

Sarah is doing the same. I'm sorry her cancer makes you uncomfortable. Also she probably wants to control the narrative. People will have an interest in her as she's in the public eye. Surely she has a right to direct what's written about her.

Her husband and her developed properties together so he has a job.

What a vile post OP
I think she's highlighting breast cancer and her own unique journey. Shame on you

I have reported this thread now.

If I had cancer and a route to make money for my kids, I'd do it.

I didn't see the programme but don't think I'd have the same reaction as you've had. Whatever helps her cope would be my thinking.

I did see some of the last TV show they did, where they were building some ugly mock Georgian house, and I found her husband a bit annoying on that.

Not everyone is like you, OP. Perhaps not even the majority. There's space for everybody. If you don't like the programme, switch it off and leave it to others who do enjoy it.

I think you've incurred the wrath of MN's judge moralists, OP. I like Sarah Beeny. I think she's been a great role model for women in the trades and for women in property generally.

I also think she is brilliant at monetising everything she does and this is another example and yes, I'm getting weary of famous people cashing in on their cancer while ordinary people, like my friends and family, just have to get through it as best they can.

Jesus Christ! Now people have to suffer illnesses in a way dictated by others. Just fuck off OP. I can only imagine how devastated her gorgeous children and husband have been. And her wonderful boys are raising funding for cancer research with their single, which has reached number one in the iTunes Charts. They seem incredibly proud of her. You don't get to dictate to other people how to cope or how they should appear to others. Stinks of jealously to me. Go away.

@Themsthebrakes
She has lived her life in the public eye for decades so she won't have the same understanding of privacy as you do.

Yes I think you are probably right on this.

@Pluvia

Yes but everyone is entitled to an opinion. I just wish the haters were not quite so hateful in their choice of language ! I am certainly no bitch and this was my opinion and as such I am entitled to it as they are also !

This thread is horrible.

What an unpleasant and mean spirited thread.

Women- please 'suffer' with cancer properly!