Marie Helvin shared her journey of still doing lingerie photoshoots while battling and ultimately overcoming breast cancer in an interview with The Telegraph published Sunday.
The former supermodel, who rose to prominence in the late ’60s, encountered an unexpected twist in her life when she detected a lump in her breast during her routine exercises in Sept. 2022, she told The Telegraph. Diagnosed at stage 1, Helvin’s early detection reportedly spared her the ordeal of undergoing chemotherapy or radiotherapy treatments.
During her recovery, the lingerie brand Bluebella approached Helvin to lead an advertising campaign, an offer made before she announced her diagnosis publicly, The Telegraph reported. The brand waited a year before starting the shoot, she told the outlet. Ultimately, they successfully completed the photoshoot, and the campaign images feature Helvin a year after her mastectomy, according to The Telegraph.
🎥 BTS: Marie Helvin, doing what she does best, modelling our new Valentine’s Day collection. Take a look behind the scenes of our latest campaign.
Click the link to shop now.https://t.co/Cjgg9uly4D pic.twitter.com/2uMTPQNEEk
— Bluebella Lingerie (@Bluebella) January 19, 2024
When asked how she feels about still receiving offers to model lingerie despite her age, she reportedly answered confidently. “I’ve always just taken it for granted that it doesn’t matter how old I am. I’m always going to feel sexy and sensual in my own skin. It’s something that I just never thought will disappear or die as I get older. I took it as a matter of fact,” Helvin told The Telegraph. (RELATED: REPORT: Former Reality Star Diagnosed With Stage 4 Cancer At Age 28)
“For people who think, ‘Oh they’ve hired her because of the breast cancer and it makes a good story’; that wasn’t the case, at all,” she explained to The Telegraph. “It was a really nice feeling that they really wanted me. It was something to look forward to…because when you are in the midst of breast cancer recovery, you think, ‘When am I ever going to feel better? Am I ever going to look okay? And will I ever get another job?”