Key Points

The ‘Your Friends and Neighbours’ actress, 44, endured a string of brutal surgeries after a cancer diagnosis upended her life, and she has now spoken about how she feels as if she has been given a second chance at enjoying motherhood and her career, reports ‘Female First UK’.

She told ‘People’ magazine, “I’m so grateful to be on the other side. Everything feels easy in a way. I feel so at peace”.

She further mentioned, “If I can stay happy and healthy, then I just want to sail into the rest of my life”.

As per ‘Female First UK’, the actress has three-year-old son Malcolm with comedian and actor John Mulaney, 42, and says handling him puts her into “survival” mode at times when he unleashes tantrums.

Olivia was diagnosed in April 2023 with luminal B breast cancer just months after recovering from postpartum anxiety following Malcolm’s birth.

She said, “It was a whole other perspective, because I had been struggling with life in postpartum, and now I was so desperate to stay alive. From the moment I received my diagnosis, it just became a march forward”.

She underwent a series of major medical interventions, including a double mastectomy, hysterectomy and ovary removal, and began IVF treatment on a specialised protocol for cancer patients. She and John were able to retrieve and fertilise seven eggs.

Olivia added, “I said, ‘I really don’t think I’ll be okay unless we get two girl embryos. I know this puts me at risk, but I just need you to support me’. He said, ‘Whatever you need’”.

That same day, they learned they had two healthy female embryos. In September 2024, the couple had their daughter Mei via surrogate. Olivia said, “We were so lucky to find someone so kind who we bonded with so much”.

The couple married in July that year and said she felt as if she recently needed to get back to acting to “energise” herself.

- IANS