Inside Elle Macpherson's Secret Cancer Battle: How Model Snubbed Advice of 32 Doctors For 'Holistic' Therapy — Despite 'Death Wish' Warnings
Elle Macpherson has opened up about quietly battling cancer from 2017.
Sept. 3 2024, Published 12:50 p.m. ET
Elle Macpherson secretly battled breast cancer seven years ago – and RadarOnline.com can reveal she reckons she beat it purely with hippie-style "cures".
After undergoing a lumpectomy in 2017, the Australian supermodel and wellness fanatic was diagnosed with HER2-positive estrogen-receptive intraductal carcinoma.
Despite the advice of 32 doctors and desperate pleas from her loved ones to accept traditional cancer treatments, the 60-year-old fought the disease with a bunch of holistic therapies as she despised the idea of undergoing grueling chemotherapy and a mastectomy.
The supermodel snubbed conventional medicine to battle the disease.
We can reveal Macpherson – who was dating disgraced anti-vaxxer Andrew Wakefield at the time of her cancer diagnosis – made the decision to steer clear of conventional cancer treatments after a marathon meditation session.
The mother-of-two reveals her fight and decision to shun traditional medicine for controversial holistic therapies in her upcoming memoir Elle: Life, Lessons, and Learning to Trust Yourself.
She said about her disease diagnosis: "It was a shock, it was unexpected, it was confusing, it was daunting in so many ways and it really gave me an opportunity to dig deep in my inner sense to find a solution that worked for me."
Macpherson insisted her decision to avoid horrific treatments such as radiation and the rebuilding of her breast was a "wonderful exercise in being true to myself, trusting myself and trusting the nature of my body and the course of action that I had chosen".
She added she prayed and meditated on a beach in Miami and concluded she didn't want to blast her cancer with chemo and pharmaceuticals.
Macpherson has two kids with her ex André Arpad 'Arki' Busson, who pleaded with her to stick to conventional medicine while battling cancer.
Macpherson said she decided to go with an unproved but "intuitive, heart-led, holistic approach" to fighting her killer disease.
She went on: "Saying no to standard medical solutions was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.
"But saying no to my own inner sense would have been even harder."
Macpherson added she felt a combination of surgery and chemotherapy was far too "extreme".
She admitted critics including her loved ones told her she was "crazy" – but said she wanted to press ahead with her plan as it "resonated" with her values and inner self and allowed her to tackle "emotional as well as physical factors associated with breast cancer".
The model at the peak of her ’90s fame with Friends actor David Schwimmer.
Macpherson rented a house in Phoenix, Arizona, for eight months where she "holistically treated" her cancer under the care of a primary doctor.
She also said she recruited a team of medics specializing in fields such as naturopathy.
Macpherson – dubbed ‘The Body’ at the peak of her catwalk pomp – added a holistic dentist, osteopath, chiropractor and two therapists to her cancer-fighting crew.
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Mom-of-two Macpherson's younger son Cy, left, begged her to undergo traditional cancer treatments – unlike her oldest boy Flynn who backed her hippie-style methods of fighting the illness.
She said her approach let her to start "focusing and devoting every single minute" to "healing myself".
Macpherson also opened up about the trauma her decision inflicted on her loved ones, saying it left her ex and oldest son distraught.
The model has her two sons Flynn, 26, and Cy, 21, with her 61-year-old financier former partner André Arpad ‘Arki’ Busson.
She said even though her youngest boy fully backed her holistic methods as he thought chemotherapy was "a kiss of death", her eldest was far from a fan of the idea.
Macpherson added: "Flynn, being more conventional, wasn't comfortable with my choice at all.
"He is my son, though, and would support me through anything and love me through my choices, even if he didn’t agree with them."
Arki – who Macpherson was with from 1996 to 2005, also "didn’t agree" with his ex's "miracle cure" approach, but eventually wrote her a letter telling her how "proud" he was of Macpherson's "courage".
The model is now in "clinical remission" from the disease – but experts warn against dropping traditional cancer-fighting methods for holistic therapies.
Macpherson is believed to have stopped dating disgraced 67-year-old former doctor Andrew Wakefield – whose research linking the MMR jab and autism made him a hate figure – in 2020.
She had publicly supported him amid the Covid pandemic by saying it was a "divine" time to raise awareness of campaigns against vaccinations.
A raft of conventional medical experts and oncologists advise cancer patients to supplement – but not replace – traditional methods of fighting the disease such as chemotherapy with the likes of aromatherapy, acupuncture, psychological help and herbal medicine.
There is zero scientific evidence non-conventional therapies have the power to cure cancer.
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