Love Island’s Demi Jones reveals she has thyroid cancer 

Demi Jones has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. 

The Love Island star, 22, told her followers the devastating news on Thursday as she vowed to ‘stay strong’ and ‘bounce back stronger’ after the devastating diagnosis.

She has been keeping fans in the loop since having surgery to remove the golf ball sized lump in her thyroid last month.  

Distressing: Demi Jones has revealed she has thyroid cancer

Addressing her fans, Demi said: ‘Hi guys, I got my results today and unfortunately I have Thyroid cancer.

‘The tumour has been removed but I’m now due to have more surgery to remove the rest of my Thyroid.’

Demi vowed to ‘stay positive’ in the wake of the diagnosis as she told fans she is a ‘strong girl’.

WHAT IS THYROID CANCER?

Thyroid cancer is a rare type of cancer that affects the thyroid gland, a small gland at the base of the neck that produces hormones.

Women are two to three times more likely to develop it than men.

Symptoms of thyroid cancer can include:

  • a painless lump or swelling in the front of the neck 
  • swollen glands in the neck
  • unexplained hoarseness that doesn’t get better after a few weeks
  • a sore throat that doesn’t get better
  • difficulty swallowing

Around 9 in every 10 people are alive five years after diagnosis. Many of these are cured and will have a normal lifespan.

Source: NHS Choices

She continued: ‘I’m staying very positive and I’m a strong girl so I’ll be fine, thank you for your love and support always. I’ll bounce back stronger.’  

Demi previously revealed that she had to push to get her lump operated on, after an initial scan told her everything was ‘fine’.  

However, her father previously battled cancer as a result of a misdiagnosed lump, which urged her to ask for more tests to be done.

Demi told The Sun: ‘When I went back for my scan and they scanned me, they said it all looks good. But unfortunately my dad’s got cancer and that came through a lump that was misdiagnosed. So I knew to push. 

‘I asked if there was anymore they could do, any other scanning and they were like ‘we could drain some fluid for you and see what that comes back like.’   

Demi first noticed the lump in January 2019 but put off getting it checked as she was in her final year of university. 

The following year she entered Love Island and told Metro that it ‘all happened so quickly’ but noticed that it had grown bigger over the past year. 

She had the initial scan in January 2020 which gave her the all-clear, but pushed for another check this year after noticing the lump had grown.  

Last month, Demi revealed doctors feared the lump in her neck could be cancerous and she would be undergoing surgery to remove it.

After the revelation she thanked fans and said she was ‘overwhelmed with support’ and said she had received ‘thousands of kind messages’.  

She penned: ‘I’m so overwhelmed with support. I had thousands of kind messages yesterday.’ 

Signing off her post on a happy note, Demi added: ‘I feel positive today. Thank you.’

A day earlier, Demi emotionally shared the news with her followers on her Instagram Stories after receiving some test results. 

Demi wiped away tears as she revealed she would have the lump removed in the next few weeks so that medics could determine whether it is cancerous.

Sat in her car after receiving the results, Demi told fans: ‘I went to get my results today for my lump. And they think it could be cancerous so I have to have it operated on and removed in the next couple of weeks.

‘Nothing is for certain but I’m really worried. I’m sure it’ll be fine. It’s a shock because you don’t think, I was sat there in this waiting room and it was full of old people and I was the only young one there. I thought I’m so young for god’s sake. 

‘I know loads of women go through this,I’ll be fine. It might not even be cancer but they’ve got to cut it out to find out. I’m shocked at the moment.

‘I’ll be ok, when I get it removed it’ll be fine.’

Demi then shared a post which encouraged her followers to get any lumps checked if they are worried. 

Post-surgery: Last week Demi revealed she had her 'potentially cancerous' neck lump removed in an Instagram post

Post-surgery: Last week Demi revealed she had her ‘potentially cancerous’ neck lump removed in an Instagram post

She wrote: ‘Please don’t put off getting lumps checked, if appointments keep getting cancelled then you need to chase it up. I was supposed to have this appointment six months ago.

‘At my scan they said “everything looks fine” and went to send me on my way. I challenged it and asked if they could do more, in which they said ‘oh well we can test the fluid if you want us to?’

‘Thank god I asked as it was the fluid that can be potentially cancerous. Always push!’

Wow: Wearing a full face of glam and with her reddish-brown hair immaculately styled in loose waves, Demi gave her tresses a flick and winked for fans

Wow: Wearing a full face of glam and with her reddish-brown hair immaculately styled in loose waves, Demi gave her tresses a flick and winked for fans

 

She explained: ‘The main reason I put it on my socials is to raise awareness and I had thousands of messages. 

Emotional: Demi emotionally revealed in April she had to have the lump removed which doctors fear could be cancerous

Emotional: Demi emotionally revealed in April she had to have the lump removed which doctors fear could be cancerous

‘My phone blew up and I had loads of girls reaching out to me, loads of people saying they were booking appointments because of me and I even had fellow celebrities message me saying they were worried about certain lumps and looking for advice so I just feel like it’s done a world of good.’ 

She added: ‘Pause TikTok, pause Netflix, just take five minutes and have a little feel. If you don’t know how to do it, Google it, there are some really amazing websites. 

‘If there’s anything that concerns you, don’t let nerves get the better of you and put it off because I feel people actually put it off because they’re nervous to find out what it is.

‘Don’t let doctors brush you off, you know your body and if you know something’s wrong, push to get more appointments and to get referred if you need to.’ 

Last week, Demi shared before-and-after clip with her social media followers as she mimed the words: ‘I took some time off to rest and now it’s game time b***hes.’

Going make-up free while in hospital for the first part of the video, Demi  posed up a storm in her bedroom for the last half of the clip.

Wearing a full face of glam and with her reddish-brown hair immaculately styled in loose waves, Demi gave her tresses a flick and winked for fans as she seemingly declared she’s ready to hit the town once more.

The TV personality accessorised with hoop earrings and wore a pair of metallic wrap-around shoes.

Her figure-hugging outfit was in stark contrast to her hospital gown. 

She took to Instagram to share a post-surgery selfie as she explained she was ‘very sleepy’ and that the procedure was ‘painful’.

Demi looked tired in the picture as she sat in her hospital bed in a gown and told fans she would catch up with them soon.

She wrote: ‘I did it – very sleepy and painful, catch up soon.’

Before the procedure the beauty shared another picture as she prepared to head to hospital, writing: ‘Thank you for all your messages. Signing off now. I’ll update you all after my surgery.

News: Sat in her car after receiving the results, Demi told fans: 'I went to get my results today for my lump'

She said: 'Nothing is for certain but I'm really worried. I'm sure it'll be fine'

News: Sat in her car after receiving the results, Demi told fans: ‘I went to get my results today for my lump’

Love Island star: Demi  bravely encouraged her followers to get any lumps checked if they are worried

Love Island star: Demi  bravely encouraged her followers to get any lumps checked if they are worried