She put her career on hold to battle cancer, but now Tessa James is better than ever and making a huge comeback.
The beloved star recently chatted to the Daily Telegraph and confirmed she’s landed a brand-new gig on the stage – aka the spiritual home of all actors.
While no actual word on what the play is about, the title or the launch date – Tessa did say it will be in Sydney.
The 25-year-old became a household name after joining the cast of Home and Away playing Nicole.
Going from strength-to-strength, the actress left Aussie shores to try and make it in the bright lights of Hollywood.
But in September 2014, her dreams were halted after she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and returned home to focus on treatment.
“You’d see actresses and they seemed to always go through hardships,” Tessa explained to Sunday Night
“I always thought, ‘Well I don’t have a story. My life is great’. Yeah, I have a story now.”
Finishing chemo in the middle of 2015, Tessa admits that her husband, rugby league player Nate Myles, was instrumental to her healing.
“Nate always underplays his support he gives to me. He is my rock.”
Looking back on her health battle, Tessa says it’s made her a better person.
“I’m not in such a rush anymore. I was really jaded and really kind of, ‘well I’ve been doing it for x amount of years, why hasn’t this happened, why hasn’t that happened’,” she explained to The Telegraph.
“I was just in such a panic and I think by getting sick I’m just so much more content, more patient, and more aware of the world in general. My main goal now is to be happy.”
Doting husband Nate confessed that watching his wife overcome cancer was harder than anything on the field.
“She’s tougher than any footballer I have played alongside. There’s a euphoric feeling when you walk off a field sore but for Tess when she was doing her treatment, she didn’t know for a lot of the time if it was a win, if it was helping.”
In fact, the footy player has always tired to put himself in Tessa’s shoes, including shaving his head with her.
“I was more traumatised than her,” he laughed.
Clearly those who shave together, stay together! In December, the adorable couple celebrated five years of marriage.
