Delta Goodrem: I Faced Cancer With The World Watching

Begin Again with Davina McCall

FlightStory

Society & Culture, Mental Health, Self-improvement, Health & Fitness, Education

4.6 • 972 Ratings

🗓️ 28 August 2025

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode of Begin Again, Australian singer songwriter and global pop icon Delta Goodrem shares the deeply personal story behind her sudden and life altering cancer diagnosis at just 18, right as her career was exploding. From topping charts and starring on Neighbours to waking up in a cold sweat with a terrifying premonition, Delta opens up about the whirlwind that followed. Public scrutiny, treatment in the spotlight, and the emotional toll of losing her voice, her identity, when the world was watching. She speaks with raw honesty about isolation, resilience, and how it took years to truly come back to herself. Now, decades later, she reflects on the gifts hidden inside the chaos, the support she received, and how gratitude became her way through. 👉 Follow us on Instagram: @beginagain 🎥 Watch more on TikTok: @beginagainpod Delta: https://www.instagram.com/deltagoodrem/?hl=en (00:00) Intro (01:19) Delta’s Story & Starting Over (03:55) The Power of Language (04:30) Gratitude and Curiosity About Life (05:44) First Steps into Acting and Family Support (07:50) Her Mother’s Accident and Traumatic Birth (09:44) Musical Beginnings and a Twist of Fate (12:32) Recording a Demo at 13 and the Sydney Swans Connection (18:02) Recording Her First Album at 15 (21:16) Trusting Her Inner Voice (23:07) Landing Neighbours and Rising to Fame (29:28) Airbnb Ad Break (30:31) Realizing She Had a Hit (31:43) A No. 1 Album and Growing Concerns (36:08) Intuition Before the Storm (41:09) Cancer Diagnosis at 18 (45:33) Outpouring of Support from Fans and Community (49:22) Treatment Journey and Road to Recovery (52:29) Life After Beating Cancer (54:49) Losing Her Voice and Starting Over Again (58:58) Letting Go of Control and Resetting (01:01:42) Meeting Her Partner Matt – Sponsored by: Airbnb - https://www.airbnb.co.uk/host Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Your wildest dreams are coming true and you get the worst news.
0:03.2	You've had like 30 years in show business.
0:06.6	There was kind of an opening to be signed at 15.
0:09.2	It was pretty wild.
0:10.1	It just all happened at the same time.
0:12.0	I would go to set, fly to New York, make some of the music come back to set.
0:15.3	Wow.
0:16.1	But then I basically had a nightmare, a very dark figure, came to me on a grave with a note.
0:24.2	It just was like danger, danger is happening.
0:26.7	Album was number one.
0:28.0	I was on a flight that week to head to the States.
0:30.7	By the nighttime, they said, we have to take you to the hospital.
0:33.7	And that was the first time I heard, they think you have cancer.
0:36.7	I ended up finding a lump, and then my whole world changed.
0:40.8	I woke up and I couldn't speak.
0:43.4	We didn't know whether this is going to be six months, a year, five years.
0:47.4	The biggest surrender in that was that I don't have control of this at all.
0:52.2	Sometimes your hands get ripped off the steering wheel.
0:55.8	I just started to sort of get back to my very authentic self.
1:01.0	And that chapter was essential to my life.
1:04.2	I admire you so much your ability to see the good come out of every dark place,
1:10.4	find the light and head towards it.
	...

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