Peloton instructor Leanne Hainsby says she 'woke up screaming' when she realised she had breast ca

Peloton instructor Leanne Hainsby has opened up about her breast cancer diagnosis and why her goal is to truly trust her body again – now that she’s cancer-free.

The British fitness professional, 35, looked incredible on the September cover of Women’s Health magazine as she candidly discussed her battle with breast cancer after she was diagnosed in August 2022.

Leanne revealed she knew ‘immediately’ that she had breast cancer from the minute she found the lump.

Speaking to Women’s Health magazine she said: ‘I remember waking up screaming at [my fiancé] Ben that I had breast cancer. 

‘I just knew immediately. [When I went to the doctor] it wasn’t ‘go away and don’t come back, you’re absolutely fine’. 

Peloton instructor Leanne Hainsby opens up about her breast cancer diagnosis and why her goal is to truly trust her body again – now that she’s cancer-free

‘It was a ‘this is a hormonal cyst; there’s nothing to worry about. But if your anxiety is bad, then come back in 28 days – roughly [the length of] your menstrual cycle – ‘so we can see if it’s changed’.’

The fitness trainer opened up about a ‘brilliant’ nurse who helped shape her mindset following her diagnosis of grade three, early, triple-positive breast cancer.

She said: ‘She said that cancer is as much a mental game as a physical one. And so I got my mindset in check from the very beginning…I leaned into breathwork, I leaned into meditation, I got a nutritionist on board…I started to really go there with my therapist. 

‘Those things kept me from falling into a really dark place. On top of having a diagnosis, your body is going to physically change. 

‘They’re going to have to do something to your boobs. You’re then talking about fertility, so your future looks different.’

Leanne made the decision to continue filming her Peloton classes throughout her chemotherapy treatment as she ‘didn’t want to feel like a cancer patient.’

The British fitness professional, 35, looked incredible on the September cover of Women’s Health magazine as she candidly discussed her battle with breast cancer after she was diagnosed in August 2022

The fitness trainer also opened up about a ‘brilliant’ nurse who helped shape her mindset following her diagnosis of grade three, early, triple-positive breast cancer

Leanne revealed she knew ‘immediately’ that she had breast cancer from the minute she found the lump

Leanne made the decision to continue filming her Peloton classes throughout her chemotherapy treatment as she ‘didn’t want to feel like a cancer patient’

She explained: ‘I didn’t just want to feel like a cancer patient all the time, which is what I felt like most of the time…At no point did I feel sorry for myself. 

‘I had moments where I thought, this is really f**king unfair, but I didn’t allow myself to sit there…

‘I don’t like people assuming that we’re going to start from a negative point of view. It’s just not how I’ve chosen to [tackle this].’

‘As soon as I was diagnosed, I remember saying, ‘I do not want to be defined by cancer’. 

‘But my diagnosis…has pushed me into leading the most authentic life I can…From when I was three years old, I’ve always danced and it’s always been about how I look. 

‘And then I’m on a platform during my Peloton classes and a huge part of it is how I look. Then, all of a sudden, that stuff is stripped from you and it just forces you to be like, okay, well, what else can I bring? What else is here? And I think my mission now is to bring that out of other people.’ 

Luckily Leanne was told she is now cancer-free but she admitted her recovery will be on ongoing

Leanne revealed she wants to start ‘trusting her body again’ before making future plans

Luckily Leanne was told she is now cancer-free but she admitted her recovery will be on ongoing.

She said: ‘When the bulk of your treatment is done and you start to maybe look fit and healthy again, people will say to you, ‘Oh, I’m so pleased that’s behind you’ and ‘So sorry you went through that’. 

‘But, actually, there’s a whole maintenance-treatment phase…And there is a part of the journey now that’s [dealing with] the mental toll of cancer diagnosis.’

Leanne revealed she wants to start ‘trusting her body again’ before making future plans. 

Saying ‘One thing that comes before anything else – before Ben and I start planning a wedding, before anything [else] happens – I want to believe to my core that I can trust my body again. That’s my main goal – to just say it and believe it.’

The full Leanne Hainsby interview can be read in the October issue of Women’s Health on sale now’

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