NHS statistics suggest half of all people will develop some form of cancer in their lifetime. Radio 1 DJ Adele Roberts, 43, is one of them, diagnosed with bowel cancer in October 2021. Here, she shares her blueprint for hope and why she believes we need role models for illness, not just wellness
Hearing radio presenter Adele Roberts summing up her current stance on life, as we wrap up our interview, feels like the best place to begin this story. ‘I feel like your energy goes where your focus is,’ she says simply, then excitedly confirms that she’s paraphrasing Energy, the absolute banger by dance music duo Disclosure. For the uninitiated, the song is all drums, beats and whistles, with spoken vocals in the vein of Mr Motivator. (‘If you are alive, I know you ain’t reach your best yet / You got more, you could do more / You could see more, you could be more, all right? / ... Where your focus goes, your energy flows.’) ‘You got me!’ Adele laughs. ‘I tried not to do the lyrics… I love that tune. And it’s so true: where you put your focus is what manifests in life.’ Which speaks directly to the full-throttle, high-octane positivity that Adele considers to be her most powerful weapon in the current battle between her body and bowel cancer.
When we speak, Adele is halfway through nine rounds of chemotherapy targeting the cancer her oncologist says has been growing in her bowel for a decade. Before starting chemo, she had an ileostomy operation to reroute her small intestine so that her waste swerves her bowel entirely and instead passes through a small opening (called a stoma) in her stomach into an external bag, which she’s named Audrey and drawn a rather fetching smiley face on. Together with her long-term partner, actress and writer Kate Holderness, she’s on a mission. Well, three, actually. Adele is determined to heal. She’s also determined to show her audience that bowel cancer can affect young and healthy women. And, thirdly, she’s determined to give people hope that it’s possible to enjoy a good quality of life while undergoing cancer treatment. On BBC Radio 1, via her own social media channel and blog, and through appearances on daytime TV, Adele has become a visible and vocal advocate for people with cancer and people with stomas. ‘One in two of us will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in our lives, and I think the more we can actually talk about it, the less negatively affected people will be, mentally, if and when that happens,’ she shares. ‘That’s why it means so much – as someone undergoing c
