Laurie Cholewa chose to speak out about a very personal battle: her breast cancer and the double mastectomy she decided to undergo. In a long Instagram post, the presenter first recounts the moment of her diagnosis, on February 16, 2026, just a few days before the César Awards ceremony: “That morning, I could have cancelled my doctor’s appointment: ‘overwhelmed’, ‘no time’… I was ten days away from the César Awards, in an absolute rush. But I didn’t.”
Laurie Cholewa then explained that she understood the seriousness of the situation when she saw her gynecologist's face change: "When I saw my gynecologist, Dr. Mouly's, face change, I immediately understood. Cancer is such a big part of my family history. It's as if I was almost expecting it."
"My first thought was of my children."
After the diagnosis was confirmed, Laurie Cholewa confided that she was overcome with fear, with an immediate thought for her children: “When my friend, radiologist Arnaud Hababou, who saw me as an emergency, opened the door to confirm the diagnosis, saying, ‘It’s not great,’ a feeling of shock washed over me. I immediately thought of my children. What was I going to tell them? Were they going to see me diminished? Were they going to see me without hair? Without strength?”
A mother of two children aged 5 and 7, the presenter recounts having had to move forward despite the shock: "But being a mother of two children, aged 5 and 7, means having to control yourself, not showing anything, and just keep going."
A radical decision: "Remove both my breasts"
Laurie Cholewa then explained that she had made a difficult decision, in agreement with her doctor, to undergo a double mastectomy: "Very quickly, I made a radical decision, in agreement with my doctor, Dr. Seror: to have both my breasts removed."
The procedure took place on March 13th. She describes this moment as a painful but deliberate choice: “So on March 13th, I went into surgery with the certainty that I was making the right choice, even if it meant saying goodbye to a part of myself. A silent, intimate, painful mourning, but in no way a renunciation. Rather, a rebirth.”
"There is no shame in undergoing a mastectomy. None at all."
This is the most powerful sentence in her testimony. Laurie Cholewa wants to break a taboo that still exists surrounding mastectomy: "I want to be clear: there is no shame in undergoing a mastectomy. None whatsoever."
She goes on to explain that this word is still too often associated with silence, fear, or a form of unjustified embarrassment: "It's a word we whisper, avoid, hide. As if losing your breasts was something to be kept quiet about. I chose to have them removed. And I don't want to hide it."
"I have been rebuilt as much as healed."
The presenter also recounts her medical journey after the operation, praising the work and support of her doctors: "In the hands of Dr. Seror and Dr. Sarfati, two doctors like few others, I was both rebuilt and healed. I will never forget the way they supported me."
She then gave reassuring news about her state of health: "Today, I am doing well and I am fortunate enough not to need chemotherapy. This experience has reminded me how much of a privilege it is to wake up healthy every morning, a privilege that should be cherished."
A message to remind everyone of the importance of screening
Laurie Cholewa explains that she hesitated before making her story public. She says she was afraid of being "shameless" or to disrespect women engaged in longer and more painful struggles: "I hesitated to make this post, for fear of being immodest or disrespectful to the much longer and far more painful struggles of the many women I'm thinking of today."
But she claims to have finally decided to speak out for a specific reason: to emphasize the importance of screening. “If I’m finally sharing this experience, it’s not so that people will pity me. It’s to remind everyone of the importance of screening. A year before my diagnosis, there was already something on my MRI. Almost invisible. A year later, it was cancer: a tumor that had doubled in size.”
"Make that appointment. Don't wait. Don't put it off."
Her message is addressed directly to women. Laurie Cholewa emphasizes the need not to postpone medical examinations: "I simply want to tell women: make that appointment. Don't wait. Don't put it off."
She also concluded by paying tribute to those around her, whom she said had been essential during this period: “I also want to emphasize the importance of those around me. Thank you to my husband, who supported me every step of the way. My mother and brother were also always there for me. I was incredibly lucky: an outpouring of love, friendship, and solidarity that I will remember for a long time and that did me so much good. I am so grateful. I love you all so much. Thank you for the chocolates, the flowers, the wonderful breakfasts, the gifts, the four-leaf clovers… Thank you also to my teams at Canal+, Europe 1, and my managers, who were so supportive.”
