Sky Sports News presenter Jo Wilson has revealed that she ‘worries about functioning on-air’ after going through early menopause as a result of chemotherapy the 39-year-old underwent in the wake of being diagnosed with cervical cancer.
Wilson learned she had the disease after going for a routine smear test in June 2022, before further tests showed that she had stage 3C cancer that had spread to her lymph nodes.
The presenter underwent six weeks of radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and brachytherapy – an internal form of targeted radiotherapy – before being given the all clear in April 2023.
But the lingering effects of her life-saving treatment prompted Wilson into early menopause – and have impacted her approach to her career.
In an interview with Sunday Telegraph, Wilson shared that the symptoms initially impacted her broadcasting role and prompted her to seek an urgent solution.
Sky Sports News presenter Jo Wilson has revealed that she struggled with functioning on-air after going through early menopause
![The broadcaster was diagnosed with stage 3C cervical cancer a year and a half ago](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/22/14/80308969-0-image-a-71_1705932766082.jpg)
The broadcaster was diagnosed with stage 3C cervical cancer a year and a half ago
![Wilson is the mother of Mabel, 3, and revealed she initially delayed her smear appointments due to suffering a traumatic birth](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/22/14/80308965-0-image-a-72_1705932771277.jpg)
Wilson is the mother of Mabel, 3, and revealed she initially delayed her smear appointments due to suffering a traumatic birth
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‘I had hot flushes, I was moody, and had brain fog,’ Wilson said. ‘I was worried about functioning on-air.
‘I researched HRT, and it seems like the benefits for things such as heart and bone health outweigh the risks for me.
‘So I started taking a combined oestrogen-progesterone tablet daily within a few months of treatment ending, which helped symptoms.’
In the wake of her diagnosis, Wilson urged women to schedule their own cervical smears in a bid to raise awareness of a cancer that one in 130 women in the UK will be diagnosed with in their lifetime.
An annual NHS report recently found that one in three women do not attend their regular smear tests, and that over the past year, there has been a 1.2 per cent decrease in those who attend their check-ups.
‘I must raise awareness,’ Wilson added. ‘I want people to talk about what’s stopping them from going to their tests.
‘Is it finding time? Is it embarrassment?
‘Whatever support you need, or why you ever haven’t gone for a smear – go and be tested. I promise you, it’s far better than going through cancer.’
Wilson shared that part of the reason she had delayed hers is because of the ‘traumatic’ birth of her three-year-old daughter Mabel, but that she no ‘regretted’ the decision.
During her treatment Wilson described how she had been ‘in absolute pieces’ due to concern over her daughter Mabel, who is now three years old.
‘My very first thought was, “Am I going to die and leave Mabel without a mum?”‘ Wilson shared.
![After revealing her diagnosis in September 2022 and undergoing treatment, Wilson returned to work in November of that year](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/22/14/80308963-0-image-a-73_1705932776619.jpg)
After revealing her diagnosis in September 2022 and undergoing treatment, Wilson returned to work in November of that year
‘It wasn’t my own fear of dying, really more the fear of leaving her and not seeing her grow up.’
Wilson, who hails from Perth in Scotland, graduated from Glasgow Caledonian University with a Masters in journalism in 2011, beginning as a graduate trainee at Sky Sports News that same year.
She later became a sub-editor and then a co-producer before making her screen debut on the channel in 2015.
Despite struggling with treatments, Wilson returned to Sky Sports in November 2022.