By Laura Cox
Published: 11:45 EST, 6 June 2014 | Updated: 18:22 EST, 6 June 2014
When Dawn French dramatically lost weight three years ago there was speculation she'd had a gastric band fitted or was suffering from stress after her split from Lenny Henry.
But the comedian has now revealed the real reason behind her decision to shed the pounds – she needed to have a hysterectomy following a cancer scare.
The Vicar of Dibley star made her confession as she opened her one-woman stage show on Thursday night.
Cancer scare: Comedienne Dawn French has opened up about the true reason behind her dramatic weight loss three years ago
She revealed her doctor was convinced she had uterine cancer and although the results of a first biopsy came back clear he ordered a second one which prompted Miss French to make the decision that she would have surgery to remove her womb.
The 50-year-old was given the choice to have an invasive operation but opted for keyhole surgery instead and was told she would need to lose weight to help ensure it was a success. She eventually lost 7.5st in total from her 19st frame.
Miss French spoke movingly about the dramatic peaks and troughs of her life as she opened her 30 Million Minutes tour in Sheffield.
She told the audience: 'When I was due to have my hysterectomy the doc told me that if I could lose some weight before the op, they would be able to do it via keyhole, and I would recover in three weeks or so.
Looking trim: In June 2011, Dawn was reported to have lost over three stone when she appeared looking significantly trimmer at the Glamour awards in London
Up North: French pictured on the opening night of her show Thirty Million Minutes in Sheffield
'Otherwise it would be big open surgery, and three months to recover. So, I set about dropping a few stone.
'No magic wand, just tiny, joyless low-cal eating and lots more walking for weeks and weeks. It was grim. I lost seven-and-a-half stone. I could have the keyhole surgery. Great. That's all it was, practical.'
The weight loss came around 14 months after her split from Henry, 55. At the time there was speculation it had been caused by the stress of the divorce.
Tough decisions: Dawn has kept the weight off as seen when she made her way into the BBC Radio studios last month
Split: t the time, her weight loss was thought to have been down to the heartbreak of her split from ex-husband, Lenny Henry
Miss French, who recently re-married – this time to charity boss Mark Bignell – has confessed to being a yo-yo dieter in the past. In recent months she appears to have put weight back on and last year she said her fans like her more when she is bigger.
She told an Australian magazine: 'My being fat kind of made it okay for others to be fat. But then what happened was that I slightly betrayed the fat club by losing a lot of weight. And then when I put 3st back on, it was as if I had swung back towards the fat club and everyone stopped freaking out.'
Hysterectomies are carried out to treat conditions that affect the female reproductive system, including long-term pelvic pain, non-cancerous tumours and ovarian, uterine and cervical cancers.
Comedy duo: Dawn famously starred in the popular comedy sketch show, French and Saunders, with her pal Jennifer Saunders
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