Big Brother star, 40, reveals brain tumour has ‘grown to 18 millimetres’
She previously said the diagnosis was 'scary and shocking'.
Big Brother star Charlie Doherty has given a health update after being diagnosed with a brain tumour last year.
Charlie, 39, appeared on the reality show in 2016 alongside names including Andrew Tate and Lateysha Grace, with Jason Burrill going on to win.
However, in an interview with Metro in 2024, she revealed she had an acoustic neuroma, a benign tumour in the brain.
At the time she said the diagnosis, which came a year after suffering difficult symptoms, was ‘scary and shocking’.
She’s now shared an update.
‘So, it’s stable and I had a six-month MRI, when they just check on it, they basically said that all was well,’ she told the Daily Star.
She is best known for appearing on the reality show in 2016 (Picture: Channel 5)‘But it had grown and it is now 18 millimetres. I did get told originally it was like 13 millimetres, but they said not to go by that measurement, because it was done in a hospital where it’s not very HD.
‘Whereas the one at King’s College Hospital was like the creme de la creme, the Rolls-Royce of MRI machines. And they said, ‘We’re not even going to judge it on that first initial one, because it was so grainy, so we don’t really want to go by that.’
Charlie said she was initially told she might eventually need brain surgery or camera surgery too, where they ‘target radio therapy for brain swelling’.
However, doctors warned her it could make her feel ill for up to two years if she went ahead with those.
The reality star explained how it wasn’t easy to just ‘get it out’ but her doctors ‘weren’t too worried’ currently.
She said doctors ‘weren’t too worried’ currently (Picture: Alamy Stock Photo)‘I’m only going to stress when I actually need to and they say that we’re in a bit of trouble,’ she added.
When first seeing a doctor for her symptoms, which included a blocked ear, Charlie was told it could have arisen from a cold or build-up of wax.
But after they started to worsen she pushed for an MRI scan, which she called a ‘saving grace’.
Although she faced the ‘initial shock’, she said she was ‘just trying to keep a positive mind on everything’.
Big Brother is streaming on ITVX.
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