If anyone knows a thing or two about a battle, it’s Manu Feildel.
For more than 10 years, the 46-year-old has helmed TV’s toughest cooking competition and moulded home cooks into stars on My Kitchen Rules.
But this year, Manu is battling something a lot more personal.
Sitting down with Woman’s Day, the father-of-two, who shares Charlee, five, with his wife Clarissa Weerasena and 15-year-old Jonti from a previous relationship, reveals his mother Evelyne has been diagnosed with breast cancer.
“We are in different countries and of course I just wanted to give her a hug and be there to help her with appointments,” Manu says of receiving the difficult news late last year.
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Manu is raising awareness to help bring awareness to Breast Cancer testing.
(Supplied)“I was relieved though to know that she had been for the check and it had been found early enough to get the best treatment,” he says.
Thankfully for Evelyne, who lives in France, prevention awareness prompted her to get a check-up, a move Manu insists avoided a “much harder situation”.
“She decided to go further and got rid of all of her nodules and she’s been on treatment with chemo. She has a few more sessions to go and she has to go through radiotherapy. She’s lucky, they got it really early,” says the chef.
You can sign up to the 3 Course Challenge and help Manu raise money for breast cancer awareness
(Supplied)Inspired by his mum’s courage, Manu is working to raise funds for breast cancer research, partnering with Breast Cancer Trials.
“If you are concerned at all, you must get checked – the work that people like Breast Cancer Trials do means that treatments and advice is improving all the time and, although it may seem scary and you may be worried about seeing someone, it’s much better to do so than leave it,” he says.
“For my mum it was by chance that she received a note, that because of her age she was entitled to a check, otherwise it could have been a much harder situation.”
And while he can’t be with her in person, Manu has been hellbent on making sure to put a smile on his mother’s face.
“My mum expects to hear me laughing and joking with her as that’s how she knows me – if I stop doing that, she would be more worried!” he laughs.
Join the fight with Manu!
You can help fund vital research into the best preventions and treatments for breast cancer by joining Manu for his 3 Course Challenge.
You’ll get to learn top tips and tricks to create a gorgeous three-course French meal and at the same time raise money for Breast Cancer Trials.
For more details visit Manu’s 3 Course Challenge website, as well as breastcancertrials.org.au.
WATCH: Manu Feildel’s daughter Charlee is rocking isolation!
