Former “Dance Moms” star Kelly Hyland announced Wednesday on Instagram that she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Hyland, 53, said that rapid weight loss was the first indication that something was wrong. When she felt a lump in her breast in March, she immediately booked a mammogram, she told E! News in an exclusive interview.
“I had just had [a mammogram] done eight months prior and the results came back clean,” Hyland said. But this screening confirmed there was a mass in her chest and the following biopsy showed she had Stage 1, Grade 3 breast cancer — the most aggressive and fast-moving type of malignant tumor, according to the American Cancer Society.
On “Dance Moms,” Hyland was one of several mothers hovering over their daughters’ dance performances under instructor Abby Lee Miller. Hyland was featured alongside her teenage daughters Paige and Brooke, now 26 and 23, in four seasons between 2011 and 2014.
Hyland’s children, including her son Josh, rallied to her side after she shared the news with them on a somber call, reported E! News. Hyland’s daughter Paige told E! News that she felt a “whirlwind of emotions” having lost her grandmother, Hyland’s mother, to breast cancer in 2019.
“I understood the long road we had ahead of us and it pained me to imagine my mother having to endure that same feeling,” Paige said to E! News. Just three days before announcing her diagnosis, Hyland celebrated her mother in a post, “Happy birthday to our angel in heaven NANA we all love you and miss you so much!”
Brooke’s recent engagement to Brian Thalman earlier this month has offered Hyland a joyful respite despite the news about her health.
“Planning the wedding is going to be a great distraction,” Hyland said to E! News.
Hyland left “Dance Moms” in 2014 but she co-hosts two podcasts inspired by the show, “Dear Dance Mom” and “Back to the Barre.” Hyland has continued to tape episodes with her former cast mates during her cancer treatment.
