[erinp5]

Big Brother contestant Charlie Travers has opened up about having her cervix and an ovary removed after two cancer scares, saying that she "100% would not be alive" if she had waited to be screened at the recommended age of 25.

The receptionist, who entered the house with her mother Jackie, said she auditioned for the show because she wanted to "embrace life to the max" after her health issues.



"I've had quite a tough time in the last seven years health-wise and now I feel I can embrace life to the max," she told New. "When I was 15 I had my left ovary removed because I had a gigantic cyst that was about to explode.

"During a smear test [at the age of 24] in 2011, they found my entire cervix was covered in pre-cancer of the highest grade.

"I had most of my cervix completely removed, but three or four months later I went for a check-up and it had all come back, so I had to have it all taken out.

"If I hadn't gone for an early smear and had waited until I was 25, I 100% would not be alive."




Charlie and Jackie Travers enter the Big Brother house


Asked if she is still able to have children, Travers replied: "I can conceive naturally, but I'm not sure if I can carry a baby full term."

59-year-old Jackie echoed her daughter's comments about why they went on Big Brother, saying: "We had been through quite hard times with Charlie's health problems and now we're over that we wanted to start afresh".