After Sarah Harding tragically passed away last month, long-time friend Davina McCall remembered how Sarah gave herself a hard time because of the delay in diagnosing cancer.
Davina, 53, first met Sarah, 39, when she hosted Popstars, the hugely popular singing show where Girls Aloud first formed.
Sarah was diagnosed with cancer which later spread, until her sad death last month.
Before she died, Sarah wrote a book and revealed that she had delayed seeing a doctor about her health concerns because of the pandemic and her fear.
The Girls Aloud star said she was "in denial" about her symptoms at first.
She was experiencing problems, and at first thought it was a breast cyst due to playing her guitar too much.
Davina sadly lost her sister back in 2012 to cancer, and she has spoken out after Sarah's words in the book.
The TV presenter desperately wants people to not go through the emotions that Sarah did of blaming herself after the diagnosis.
She said: "She’d given herself a hard time for not going to sort it out earlier. That, for me, is always the hardest thing.
"My sister was given a terminal diagnosis in hospital and gave herself a hard time for not doing something about it.
She told The Sun: . "There’s nothing like the look on someone’s face when they realise that what they’re being told is there’s no treatment. This is palliative care from now on."
"And the idea that you’d ever blame yourself for that is too much to handle. So we need to help people to find ways of detecting changes in their bodies, but never shaming anybody, ever, ever, ever, and least of all shaming yourself, ever. If you get sick, it’s not your fault."
Davina last worked with Sarah on reality series The Jump back in 2016.
Davina recalled: "I think the saddest thing is the last time I’d seen Sarah was on The Jump, where she was a contestant. And, oh my God, such good fun!
"That girl was absolutely brilliant, so exciting to be around, so fun to be with.
"And obviously I was there at the beginning of her career, with Popstars: The Rivals, and the show formed the band."
Due to the experiences she has been through, cancer research is a cause close to Davina's heart, and she will be hosting Channel 4's Stand Up To Cancer next week and says donating is more important than ever.
She added: "I know that because of the pandemic, many thousands of people have been left waiting for cancer tests and treatments, creating a worrying backlog.
"So I think this year, more than ever, we just need to fund as much research as we can, to give as many people as good a chance as possible."
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