Erin Andrews has revealed she was recently diagnosed with cervical cancer yet kept the scary news a secret.

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The 38-year-old Dancing with the Stars co-host disclosed during a recent interview with Sports Illustrated's The MMQB that she was diagnosed with cervical cancer in September 2016 yet quietly beat the disease after undergoing multiple surgeries.

Andrews learned she had cancer following a routine checkup. She warned her family about the diagnosis but decided not to share her health crisis with colleagues and fans.

"When you hear the word cancer, you fear the worst," Andrews' father Steve told MMQB. "When it's your child, you think to yourself, you think, 'God, take me, not her. She has been through enough. She is just getting her life back.'"

Andrews began fighting cancer shortly after she settled a $55 million civil lawsuit against the Nashville Marriott, where convicted stalker Michael David Barrett filmed the Fox NFL sideline reporter walking around nude in her hotel room in 2008 and later posted two videos of the intrusive footage online.

Andrews was emotionally scarred from the invasion of her privacy gone public.

"After the trial, everyone kept telling me, 'You're so strong for going through all of this, for holding down a job in football, for being the only woman on the crew,'" Andrews told the website on Tuesday. "Finally I got to the point where I believed it too. 'Hey, I have cancer, but damnit, I am strong and I can do this.'"

Andrews worked a game before flying to Los Angeles for her first surgical procedure, but she had to miss a couple of Dancing with the Stars episodes. At the time, host Tom Bergeron announced Andrews' absence was due to a family tragedy, the passing of her boyfriend Jarret Stoll's nephew, which was partly true.

When she was being wheeled into the operating room at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on October 11, she told her oncologist, "I'm not missing the Super Bowl."

Only two days after her operation, Andrews flew back to Green Bay, WI, where she filmed a feature with NFL star Jordy Nelson.

"Let's just say the doctor didn't recommend that," the sportscaster admitted to MMQB. "But just as I felt during my trial, sports were my escape. I needed to be with my crew."

Andrews underwent another surgery on November 1, but a little more than two weeks later, her doctor called her on the phone and happily revealed she's cancer-free.

"I gazed out the window and quietly wept," Steve confessed of his reaction to his daughter being in the clear. "Such an incredible weight had been lifted off her shoulders. I try not to think about what happened to her too much. But when I do, and I consider the enormity of what Erin has endured, I'll often just sit down and cry."

Andrews is set to cover Super Bowl LI at NRG Stadium on February 5 when the New England Patriots play the Atlanta Falcons in Houston, TX. Her life has been filled with joy as of recently, especially since she accepted a magical marriage proposal from Stoll at Disneyland last month.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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