Anastacia poses nude, reveals her mastectomy scars for the very first time

It’s a brave woman who poses nude for all the world to see, but Anastacia probably wouldn’t choose that particular word to describe her actions, she’d likely call it empowering.

The singer has taken part in an inspirational photo shoot for Fault Magazine in which she revealed her mastectomy scars for the very first time.

Having battled breast cancer for the second time back in 2013, the 48-year-old underwent a double mastectomy as well as later reconstructive surgery, which left her with scars on her side and back.

Now, she’s choosing to highlight the scars she gained during her treatment in a bid to reclaim her body on her own terms.

“I want to be able to go on the beach and not have the first photographs taken of my body to be ones that I didn’t give,” she said in the accompanying interview with Fault magazine.

“Paparazzi can take a photo of me breathing in and call it a gut or say all the things they want, that doesn’t scare me, but my scars are a part of me and I want to be the one to reveal them.”

“If paparazzi photographed them, I’d feel like I was being shamed but being able to release them this way, I feel extremely empowered.”

At first, after her treatment, Anastacia said she resented her scars, but now she looks on them as part of her and a symbol of everything she has been through.

“I resented them – I resented how large they were but I also understood why I needed to go through all the physical changes,” she said.

“My scars are part of my journey and a reminder of all the things I went through with my mastectomy. At this point, I feel great to show them in a way that’s artistic with a respected team in fashion because it’s transformed my body’s ‘faults’ into art.’’

The singer, who gave her reasons for appearing on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ as wanting to regain her body confidence and feel feminine again, also used her appearance to help raise funds for Cancer Research UK.

“Every little thing that I’m doing, including ‘Strictly Come Dancing,’ was me trying to reclaim a little piece of my femininity that cancer stole from me,” she said.

“When you have as many surgeries as I’ve had, you lose so many female sensations that you’ll never get back. Nipple sensation is something that cancer robbed from my anatomy and I’m used to it now but there is that little part of me that will always be lost. Doing ‘Strictly’ and doing this shoot, I feel like I’m finally becoming the woman that I was again.”

As well as reclaiming her femininity, Anastacia also hopes the pictures will raise awareness about the breast cancer risk and remind women to check their breasts and attend their mammogram appointments. She credits the early detection of her own cancer with saving her life.

“Cancer and death needn’t go hand in hand, if you catch it early you can live with it and seek treatment,” she said. “It’s not spotting it early enough that’s scary.”

What do you think of the shoot? Let us know @YahooStyleUK

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