Jeanne Beker says she's lucky to have found love 'late in life': 'One of the best relationships of my life'

Jeanne Beker’s life is an open book — five open books to be exact. Ahead of the Oct. 8 release of her fifth book, Heart on My Sleeve: Stories from a Life Well Worn, the 72-year-old Canadian television icon spoke to Melissa Grelo on the “Aging Powerfully with Melissa Grelo” podcast about finding love again and aging with style.

Here’s everything we learned from the interview.

Finding love in her 60s

When asked about how she defines “aging powerfully,” Beker said the key is knowing there’s “more in store” for us as we age — especially when it comes to love.

Although her marriage to Toronto radio personality Bob Magee ended in 1998, Beker said she always had an "open heart" and "open mind" that she would find love one day.

"I've been so lucky that I did find true love kind of late in life," she said of her partner of almost a decade Iain MacInnes. "I was like 63 when I met Iain... And that's been an incredible ride and one of the best relationships of my life without question.”

Beker said she felt as though she was lead to MacInnes by "having faith" that she still had more life to live.

"You have to believe in yourself. You have to believe in your own power. I think faith and faith alone is what's carried me through so much, so much," she said. "I'm just so lucky that I have that. I'm not talking about faith as a religious thing. I'm talking about believing —it's like believing in your dreams...because if you don't believe, it's just not gonna happen. If you don't believe, how can anything be real?”

Linda Evangelista became an ally after she was diagnosed with cancer

Beker was diagnosed with a fast-growing form of breast cancer following a routine mammogram in the spring of 2022. After announcing her diagnosis, the former Fashion Television host received a call from Canadian supermodel Linda Evangelista.

“She said to me, ‘I’m going to tell you something – and nobody else knows this —but I had breast cancer six years ago and I had a double mastectomy.”

Beker underwent a lumpectomy, chemotherapy and radiation. Just as she was finishing her treatment, Evangelista’s cancer returned.

“That was really horrifying but she got through it… thank God we’re living at this time in history when so much really can be done for breast cancer.”

The two women’s friendship deepened, and Evangelista wrote the forward for Beker’s latest book.

‘The sisterhood became even stronger," she said. "And she’s a very, very special person to me. I absolutely adore her. She’s a real class act.’

The ‘bravery’ of sharing her story

Beker bristled when receiving praise for her “bravery” for sharing her cancer diagnosis on social media. Beker, who prides herself on transparency, said she’s always written about her life — about being the child of Holocaust survivors, motherhood and navigating divorce.

“I think I would have been the biggest hypocrite if I would’ve tried to keep it a secret,” she said. “Because for me, my life’s always been an open book and I’ve always been out there. I’ve always worn my heart on my sleeve.”

Sharing her story provided her an unexpected gift during treatment: support from followers, fans and people whose lives had been touched by cancer.

“I must say that all the incredible support and love and compassion that came back to me just really restored my faith in humanity. And that really was the wind beneath my wings,” she said. “That really saw me through the journey. It was the most extraordinary year of my life.”

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