Watch: Actress Kara Tointon reveals she has undergone double mastectomy after cancer scare

Actress Kara Tointon has revealed that she has undergone a double mastectomy after learning that she carries the BRCA1 gene, which raises the risk of breast cancer.

Sharing the news with her Instagram followers, the former Eastenders star she learned was at a “greater risk” of the disease after taking a genetic test in 2018 after she lost her mother Carol to ovarian cancer.

After having her two sons, the star revealed that last year she decided to go under the knife, as well as have both fallopian tubes removed as preventive measures.

“It wasn't an easy decision, but one I am very glad that I made and I can now with hindsight talk about it properly,” she said.

Tointon said she wanted to share her own experience as hearing other women’s stories “helped me so much”.