A make-up artist to the stars was diagnosed with breast cancer after watching ITV’s Lorraine show.

Tracey Curnock was sitting in a hospital bed when she was watching a discussion on the programme about breast cancer.

The make-up artist, who has worked on film sets such as Fantastic Beasts and with stars including Natalie Portman and Jude Law on Closer, Julia Roberts and Stanley Kubrick, was in hospital with a twisted gut when she saw the programme.

The 47-year-old said: “She was talking about breast cancer.

“Then I just had a feel and I felt a lump but then I didn’t say anything for a couple of weeks because I didn’t think it was anything.”

But after talking with a friend she decided to go see a breast consultant at The Ridgeway Hospital in Wroughton.

Tracey told the Adver: “To begin with I was very blasé.

“When I got the big diagnosis I was laughing and joking in the waiting room with my friend, until I was in the appointment and they told me my diagnosis, it wiped me off my feet.”

But what was even harder for her was to tell her two daughters.

“At first they asked if I was going to die. I try not to let them see me cry or be sick, if I am then I lock myself in the bathroom and turn the radio on so they can’t hear. But they have been amazing,” she said.

Tracey was diagnosed with skin cancer four years ago and had to have a skin graft on her face.

Now she has been diagnosed with grade 3 breast cancer, which means she had to undergo two lumpectomies to take out the lumps. Then she was given 12 weeks of chemotherapy, followed by a mastectomy – for her it was the removal of her left breast.

After the diagnosis she started an Instagram page where she is honest about living with cancer. She launched tits_up_2019 in September and now has almost 400 followers who read her posts about the good and the bad days.

Tracey, of Draymans Court in Royal Wootton Bassett, said: “I’m sharing my story in an honest and frank way and this can help others with the same or a similar story. I help a lot of friends and families who have contacted me because they aren’t sure whether they should be asking the people they know who have cancer if they’re okay.”

The makeup artist has won the International Beauty Industry Awards’ in the Best Bridal Eye Makeup category.

Using her skill she is sharing beauty tips on her page to help those living with cancer.

But she’s not letting her diagnosis bring her down: “I’m feeling optimistic, my posts are usually positive but I do have down days too. Without my girls I wouldn’t be coping the way I am.”