Hollyoaks star Ali Bastian confirms she has been diagnosed with breast cancer after discovering a lump while breastfeeding her baby

‘Hollyoaks’ star Ali Bastian has been diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer.

The 42-year-old actress, who is best known for her role as Becca Dean in the Channel 4 soap from 2001 to 2007, admitted she was in “total shock” when she heard the devastating news in late June.

Ali, who now lives in Ireland with her husband and two young daughters, is currently undergoing chemotherapy before having a mastectomy and radiotherapy.

She told OK!: “It was a complete shock.

“I have mornings where I wake up and I forget… and then I remember. I’m still trying to process it.”

Ali was breastfeeding her and husband David O’Mahony’s youngest daughter Isabella, 19 months old, when she discovered a lump.

The mother-of-two – who also has Isla, four, with her husband – shared: “I hadn’t breastfed Izzy during the night but then David flew back to London for work and suddenly she was feeding like crazy. I thought, ‘Maybe she’s had a growth spurt or something.’ And it made my boobs sore. I woke up the next morning and thought, ‘Ouch, this really hurts.’ And then I felt a lump.”

Ali thought she had a blocked milk duct and was given a course of antibiotics, but it didn’t go away. On the advice of her doctor, she went to a breast cancer clinic.

She continued: “It was a public holiday in Ireland so I went straight to the emergency room.

“It really looked like I had mastitis, especially since I had been night weaning Izzy before. We thought I probably had a blocked duct. The doctor gave me antibiotics and said if it didn’t go away in a few days I should go to the breast clinic.

“But it didn’t go away and the more I felt it, the more it felt like this wasn’t just a blocked mammary gland. I went to my GP and said, ‘Can I actually go to the clinic now?’ and she was very supportive of that.”

Ali received the shocking news over the phone, but was reassured that they planned to “cure” her.

She explained that the clinic was too far away to diagnose her, saying, “We had agreed that I would text her and she would call me back. I could tell by the tone of her voice, but she told me in the nicest way possible. She was very reassuring. She said the words I hold dear, that they ‘intend to cure me.'”

Doctors are convinced her cancer is ‘hormone driven’ and are doing further tests to determine if it is genetic. However, her maternal aunt and grandmother also had breast cancer.

She will have a single mastectomy and is still waiting to hear whether a double mastectomy is a good idea as a ‘preventative measure’.

The former ‘Doctors’ actress is also being treated by a psychologist specializing in oncology and has been assigned a mentor who has had cancer.

Ali has vowed to overcome the disease and is determined to return to acting.

She added: “I will get through this and come out the other side.

“After my diagnosis, I went on Instagram and saw a post from my friend Dominic Power, my former co-star in The Bill, and I could see that he was on set in Hollyoaks. I suddenly had this real pang of, ‘I want to look into an actor’s eyes and do a scene.’

“I really miss it.”