Elle MacPherson goes public with “holistic” strategy for secret cancer battle

Supermodel Elle MacPherson has revealed that she was diagnosed with breast cancer seven years ago and underwent nontraditional treatment on her journey to remission.

Australia’s Women’s Weekly magazine excerpted the 60-year-old’s new memoir, Elle, in which she explained she underwent a lumpectomy, calling it a “shock” when she found out the growth doctors removed was cancerous.

However, while she was advised to have a mastectomy and chemotherapy, she instead took “an intuitive, heart-led, holistic approach” to her health. 

“I realised I was going to need my own truth, my belief system to support me through it,” MacPherson writes. “And that’s what I did. So, it was a wonderful exercise in being true to myself, trusting myself and trusting the nature of my body and the course of action that I had chosen.”

Incidentally, the model, entrepreneur and self-described accidental actress said she reached out to fellow Australian entertainer Olivia Newton-John, who died of cancer in 2022 after decades battling the disease. “[We] spoke a few times when I was diagnosed and also through
both of our healing journeys. We did things differently, but we did share experiences with each other and how we feel and how we approach things.”

Seven years after she was diagnosed, Elle tells the magazine, “In traditional terms, they’d say I’m in clinical remission, but I would say I’m in utter wellness. And I am!”

More specifically, MacPherson says, “Truly, from every perspective, every blood test, every scan, every imaging test … but also emotionally, spiritually and mentally – not only physically. It’s not only what your blood tests say, it’s how and why you are living your life on all levels.”

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