Who is Jillian Barberie? TV anchor says Heather Locklear 'helped a lot through chemo' during cancer battle
Jillian Barberie, a former anchor of 'Good Day LA' and Fox NFL 'Sports Sunday', has reflected on her past in a recent interview. The 56-year-old celebrity appeared to have it all: popularity, a successful career, and a supportive husband. However, she ran across a number of obstacles.
She explained to Daily Mail how her struggle with depression and breast cancer led to an addiction that completely upended her life. She is now sober thanks to the support of her good friend Heather Locklear. “I really don't feel like I've had a lot of trauma in my life, which is hysterical because I always ask my girlfriends, ‘Have I been through a lot?’” began the star who has also spoken on 'Addiction Talk', an online talk show hosted by American Addiction Centers. “They will look at me, and they will seriously say to me, ‘Yes Jillian, you've been through a lot.’ But I think everything's relative,” she added. Jillian, who has also had roles in 'Sharknado' and 'Melrose Place', continued by expressing her astonishment at her current situation.
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The journey, however, was made much easier by the support of her friend. Heather Locklear, a good friend from 'Melrose Place', was there to help Barberie get back on track. “Heather is one of my very dear friends and she helped me a lot through chemo," Jillian told Daily Mail. “We are very fortunate. We always say we're the same person. We have the same sense of humor, and we cover in the same crazy business so we kind of get it and she doesn't take herself too seriously at all. She's one of the funniest women I've ever met. And we're raunchy.” She added that she feels quite fortunate to be sober at this time. “It's been 14 months. I can't Imagine going through the things that I've gone through being drunk in the past year. I've been through enough. I mean, I think that drinking, you know, for me, will be the death of me, cancer won't.'" She claims to not look back in regard to her cancer. "I did have the double mastectomy, the chemo, the radiation,” she shared.
“I wasn't one of those women that looked at my body as this big sacred thing. I didn't treat my body horribly, but I didn't think of breast cancer. I just never really had mammograms. It just never occurred to me. And I took I took my body for granted. I wish I would have done playboy. Playboy offered four times, and I turned them down every time and I wish I had done it. But, you know, God had different plans for me. I just wish I would have done it. For Prosperity. I had beautiful natural breasts and now I have implants and I'm not as fond of them. And people said, ‘Oh my gosh, you know, the steroids make you gain weight, and you go bald.’ But I'm not a vain person. My kids were number one. I told my oncologist to bring me to the brink of death and take me back again. I have a 9 and an 11-year-old at home. Cancer rearview mirror,” Jillian stated.
“I always tell people, you know, for me that taking that sip of alcohol is far more dangerous than my cancer coming back. For me, I am far more afraid of taking a sip of Chardonnay than I am, of hearing that my cancer comes back. And the reason for that is very simple. If cancer does come back, you have doctors, they're the professionals, the experts that, you know, surgical oncologists take it out of you. And then chemo oncologists tell you exactly how much chemo they must put in your body. When you're drinking, you're the doctor, right? So yeah, I don't ever want to go back to that dark place. To think of everything I achieved, while drinking by drinking really got bad. After my diagnosis, I'll be honest, it wasn't because of the cancer. It was because of other traumatic things that happened. And, you know, I got through it all and I'm on hopefully the other side every day, you know, I've been a single mom for 10 years, doing it on my own. And it's been hard at times, but it's the most fulfilling job I've ever had," she further revealed.
Who is Jillian Barberie?
Jillian Barberie was a 'Good Day Los Angeles' TV news anchor in the past. Jillian Marie Warry was born on September 26, 1966, in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. She has expanded her acting career since leaving the FOX network, notably appearing in 'Project X' (2012), 'VIP' (1998), and 'Volcano' (1997). Previously, she was married to Grant Reynolds and Bret Barberie. She shares two children with Grant, named Ruby Raven Reynolds and Ricco Rio Reynolds.