Leanne Quigley, who joined Jake Brown and the hit BBC One show Traitors in a thrilling climax, has opened up during an exclusive shoot with OK! at their home in North Wales about the agonizing battle between her and her fiancee with cancer. The 29-year-old army veteran from Holywell, is engaged to fellow army recruit Sophie Jones – with whom she shares non-identical twins via IVF, Hudson and Harley, two. But their worlds collapsed last year when Sophie, a very healthy, active 32-year-old at the time, was diagnosed with an aggressive breast cancer.
Sophie took a shower last May and discovered a tiny lump in her breast. She initially assumed it to be her ribs, but her GP referred her to the hospital when it had grown significantly larger two weeks later. After being informed that Sophie had a benign cyst, tests revealed that she had an aggressive, quickly-growing grade 3 breast cancer and had just begun chemotherapy a week later.
The most agonizing time, according to Leanne, was the two-week wait between Sophie’s diagnosis and the CT scan results, which revealed the spread of her cancer. She admits, the whole thing felt like an “out of body experience”. “We didn’t know if she’d live”, the reality star tells us. “It was utterly terrifying. Sophie was saying every day, ‘ I don’t want to die, Leanne… I want to see our babies grow up'”. “It was the fear of the unknown”, Sophie adds. “I didn’t know how bad it was, whether I’d go back for the results and hear, ‘ You’ve got six months to live. ‘”
Sophie lost a lot of time with her children and felt “guilty” about everything her other half was going through, frequently becoming bedbound as a result of the debilitating effects of chemotherapy. When I was very bad, they wouldn’t see me, despite Leanne’s promise to kiss me. I felt so guilty – but I knew I couldn’t do anything. Leanne was just amazing”.
She had to rekindle her relationship with them. explains Leanne. “But we both said, if we hadn’t had the twins, life would have been very dark. They kept us going”. Losing her hair, says Sophie, was particularly horrendous. “But I don’t want to hide. I want to be who I am and be proud of what I have accomplished. It’s slowly growing back. At home, I just feel more at ease moving around without a wig.
Originally meant to have six chemo sessions, Sophie only had five, as her body couldn’t tolerate the last, she admits. “I was in hospital and had several blood transfusions, I couldn’t walk at one point. I had a lumpectomy on Xmas Eve (what a beautiful present, it was also Leanne’s birthday! ), to remove the lymph nodes and tumor under my arm.
On 8 January, Sophie got the news they’d both been hoping for – she was given the all-clear. She began a daily two-week preventative radiotherapy course shortly after our exclusive shoot, and despite feeling “very tired,” she is optimistic about the future. Due to her nan and aunt having BRCA gene, Sophie was also tested for it, but luckily it returned negative, so she didn’t need to have a preventative mastectomy. And on 5 March, she says delightedly, she can “ring the bell!! It’s going to be very emotional”.
The couple says they are currently enjoying the simple things in their cozy family home, which is close to Sophie’s adolescence and is only a five-minute drive from the closest beach. “We love family time at home. Where we live is so idyllic”, says Leanne. “I mean, we tidy up 15 times a day, as these twins are wild! But it’s so nice to feel normal again. Life’s not been normal for a long time”. Sophie adds: “My family’s close by. Additionally, Leanne’s mother and sister are moving away from the house, so “we might even enjoy some date nights”!
They can now get down to some serious wedding planning, too. Sophie acknowledges that she’d always wanted to propose on a family trip to Portugal this year, but that all changed with her agonizing diagnosis last year. “I’d no clue what was going to happen, so I thought, ‘ Let’s do it now. On Friday, I had my first chemo, booked a hotel in the Lakes the day before, booked a small boat, and “popped the question there.”
“It turned the whole weekend around”, recalls Leanne, smiling. Instead of just doom and gloom, we had wedding planning to look forward to. The big day, says Leanne, won’t be until Sophie’s hair has grown back – then they’ll book a date. “It will probably be next summer. I do not want a cold wedding”! laughs Sophie, adding that, because the twins are still small, and Leanne’s younger sister being disabled and unable to travel far, it will likely be local.
“We joked that the Highlands castle at The Traitors’ could be our wedding location!” But like Sophie, I don’t really care as long as there’s family and good vibes. We’ll definitely invite the Traitors gang, and Claudia]Winkleman], of course! On that program, I made lasting friends. We don’t go a day without speaking. The WhatsApp group is never ending. Even so, Sophie and their partner relationships are excellent. She adds, “I’ll 100% wear a white dress! And the twins will probably be our ring-bearers. They’ll be three and a half by then, and so cute”!
Leanne carried the couple’s adorable non-identical twins through IVF – with Sophie’s eggs and donor sperm, explaining she was “very lucky” to fall pregnant at the first attempt. I requested both embryos because it was considered to be “low grade,” and I really didn’t believe it would work. But we ended up having twins as well”! Both were ecstatic, but Sophie confesses she couldn’t stop laughing at their first scan. “I was like, ‘ Leanne, this is all your fault! ‘ But we wouldn’t change things for the world. The best thing ever was having twin mothers.
The twins ‘ arrival on 9 January 2023, however, was nothing short of traumatic. Born prematurely at just 26 weeks, at a hospital while Sophie and Leanne were in Nottingham for Leanne’s mum’s birthday, Leanne admits, the whole thing is still a blur. “I told Sophie I was feeling these strange ‘ tightenings’. I was informed that my chest was 4 cm dilated when I realized we were in need of an emergency C-section. I just went numb”.
Sophie admits, it was a terrifying time. “I remember crying, thinking, ‘ Are they going to make it? ‘ The doctors were saying, ‘ If they do survive the birth, they could have all these disabilities. ‘ We couldn’t take it in”. When they were born, weighing just 1lb 14oz each, both babies ‘ amniotic sacs were still intact. As soon as they burst, doctors scrambled to save them from various complications, ranging from heart-caused bleeds to brain bleeds.
“I didn’t initially recognise them as my babies”, confesses Leanne. “They looked like fully-formed humans but their eyes were fused shut, their fingers webbed. It was surreal”. In order to keep them warm and moist, Sophie explains, “They were put in a carrier bag in front of me.” I was like, ‘ What’s going on? ‘ It was like a nightmare because you wanted it to be your life’s best experience.
After being transported to Birmingham for specialist care, the twins were later given the go-ahead and, with oxygen tanks, were allowed back home. However, the new parents still experienced some terrifying experiences. “Nighttimes were awful”, admits Leanne.
“I always worried they’d stop breathing. I have a blood oxygen level monitor on my own, which I believe saved their lives because one baby’s reading was dangerously low, at 65%, when the emergency alarm went off at 3am. Thank goodness we recognized the alarm and knew we had to raise his oxygen levels.
Today, Hudson and Harley are thriving, with hospital check-ups every other month – although Hudson occasionally returns for oxygen treatment, as his lungs are particularly weak. “They’re amazing”, beams Leanne. “So fun and happy. They are unaware of the difficulty they faced in the struggle to survive.
Incredibly, it hasn’t put the couple off expanding their brood. Leanne declares that she would “love a little girl” and that she intends to use some of her profits from The Traitors to fund additional IVF. “We’ll have a rest, first – maybe after our wedding. Meanwhile, we’ll get my eggs frozen – Sophie’s eggs aren’t viable after her cancer treatment, which put her into early menopause. We’re so lucky we used Sophie’s eggs two years ago”. Will they eventually reach three? As Sophie nods firmly, Leanne confesses, “The thing is, I don’t like odd numbers – maybe we should have four…”
The couple is also making adjustments to a slightly different post-Traitors’ reality, which Leanne calls “a little crazy.” “I never thought I could get on The Traitors, never mind win it”! laughs the bubbly blonde. Now getting used to selfie requests from excited fans, Sophie says she has become accustomed to being Leanne’s “official photographer”.
As for future telly plans, Leanne hasn’t ruled out doing another reality show, (“I would love to if I was lucky enough to be offered the opportunity”! Sophie admits to being quite content to watch her fiancée cheer on from the sidelines while Sophie admits to being quite content to stay at home with the kids.
They both concur that life is short, and that every moment should be valued. “We’ve had so many moments when our lives were ripped apart – the last two years have been horrific, aside from The Traitors”, says Leanne. We want to use every moment to its fullest.
“We’re focusing on enjoying our future together as a family now”, adds Sophie. “We feel unbreakable”.
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Source: Mirror
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