This week, actress Brittany Daniel made her highly anticipated return to her role as Kelly Pitts on BET’s “The Game,” delighting fans who’d miss the actress ever since she left the show abruptly in 2011. Now, after years of silence, Daniels is finally opening up about leaving the show and reveals that her departure was due to a major illness.
In an interview with People, Daniel revealed that in the summer of 2011 she began experiencing excruciating back pain, night sweats and flu-like symptoms. After going to a doctor, Daniels learned that she was suffering from stage IV non-hodgkins lymphoma, a form of blood cancer.
“It happened so suddenly,” said Daniel. The actress explained that, during her recovery, she and her mother moved into her twin sister, Cynthia’s, guest house and rallied their family together to help her heal.
“There is no way I would have ever gotten through this without my family,” Daniel explained. “My family is everything to me and I feel like they saw me through this.”
Daniel says that she originally wanted to remain mum about her health problems, but now that she’s finally cancer free, she wants to share her story with others who are dealing with cancer as well.
“I want to let people know it is absolutely possible to get through something like this,” she said. “I want people to know they are not alone.”
Daniel now says she’s excited to be back on “The Game” and is hopeful about starting a family of her own.
“I am just trying to enjoy every day,” said Daniel.
We’re glad that Daniel is healthy again and, luckily, she’s not the only celebrity to survive a battle with cancer. Check out some other celebs who’ve had cancer below. –nicholas robinson
