“In sickness and in health” didn’t appear to apply to this Hollywood couple.
Supermodel Elle Macpherson says the controversial decision to treat her breast cancer diagnosis “holistically” led to the end of her marriage to billionaire Jeffrey Soffer.
The Australia-born beauty, 60, made the bombshell claim in her new memoir, “Elle: Life, Lessons and Learning to Trust Yourself.”
The couple, who tied the knot in 2013, were still married at the time that the model was diagnosed in 2017.
Macpherson refused chemotherapy from 32 doctors, revealing that her decision took a toll on her marriage.
“My diagnosis of breast cancer, followed by my final choice of Dr C’s holistic approach to recovery… was not one that Jeff could trust or feel at ease about,” she candidly wrote.
“And really this process was the straw that broke the camel’s back… it opened up the floodgates and everything changed,” she emotionally added. “Our marriage was over and we both knew it.”
Macpherson and Soffer split that year.
Earlier this year, Macpherson caused controversy after revealing that she did not have chemotherapy after being diagnosed HER2-positive estrogen receptive intraductal carcinoma — a type of breast cancer characterized by a higher level of a protein that can help breast cells multiply quickly.
The cancer had not spread to her lymph nodes, but Macpherson said Soffer wasn’t the only loved one who was worried about her decision to forgo traditional treatment.
The mother-of-two also admits that she didn’t even tell her closest Australian relatives about her plans, fearing their disapproval.
“I didn’t tell my family in Oz, not even my parents,” she stated of her cancer diagnosis in her memoir. “I didn’t want to put them in a situation where they were worrying from afar and I knew that my choices were different from what they may have imagined was good for me.”
“The hardest part was making the decision on how to heal,” she added. “The saddest part was the lack of understanding from people close to me.”
In an interview with Australian television’s “Today” in September, Macpherson said her decision to forego chemotherapy wasn’t made lightly.
“Just to be clear, I sought a lot of medical advice,” she said. “It was very interesting, because every doctor has a different opinion on how to treat my specific case of breast cancer.”
“There was no clear path and there was no guarantees either way,” she continued. “So, I just made a decision based on all the information that I gathered and what felt right for me.”
Macpherson is now in remission, and fighting fit. The model told the program she is “healthy” again and has been healthy “for a long time.”
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