Former “Dance Moms” star Kelly Hyland announced Wednesday on Instagram that she has been diagnosed with breast cancer.
Hyland, 53, said the rapid weight loss was the first indication that something was wrong. When he felt a lump in his breast in March, he immediately scheduled a mammogram, he told E! News in an exclusive interview.
“I had just had [a mammogram] “I did it eight months before and the results were clean,” Hyland said. But this test confirmed there was a mass in his chest, and the next biopsy showed he 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 who watched their daughters' dance performances under instructor Abby Lee Miller. Hyland appeared alongside her teenage daughters Paige and Brooke, now ages 26 and 23, in four seasons between 2011 and 2014.
Hyland's children, including her son Josh, joined her after she shared the news with them in a somber call, E! reported. News. Hyland's daughter, Paige, told E! News that she felt a “whirlwind of emotions” losing her grandmother, Hyland's mother, to breast cancer in 2019.
“I understood the long road ahead of us and it hurt me to imagine my mother having to endure that same feeling,” Paige told 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 happy respite despite the news about her health.
“Planning the wedding is going to be a huge distraction,” Hyland told E! News.
Hyland left “Dance Moms” in 2014, but co-hosts two podcasts inspired by the show, “Dear Dance Mom” and “Back to the Barre.” Hyland has continued to film episodes with her former co-stars during her cancer treatment.
