When Brooke Burke’s Kids Accidentally Found Out About Her Cancer Diagnosis

Former Dancing with the Stars co-host Brooke Burke recently looked back at her thyroid cancer diagnosis in 2012. Highlighting how she broke the news to her family, Brooke also shared its profound impact on her children. Before the television personality could “tell her own story”, the media caught wind of her cancer diagnosis and the children accidentally found out about the same, leading to a “really unfortunate” situation.

At the time of diagnosis, Brooke Burke decided to share the news in a YouTube video. “I didn’t want it to be a headline and to start showing up everywhere with, like, that [expletive] up picture and ‘Brooke has cancer,” the television personality explained in a conversation with chef Curtis Stone on his podcast, Getting Grilled. She added, “I decided to tell my own story. My daughter saw it on my phone before I had posted it. She was like, how could you not tell me?”

The kids were afraid that their mother, Brooke Burke, may die due to cancer. Recalling the impact of the diagnosis on children, the television personality mentioned that her kids “immediately [went] to, ‘Are you gonna die? Are you dying? and were concerned about how serious the cancer was. “And I think that’s what people hear when you hear those words that ‘You have cancer.’ You go, ’Ooh my God, I’m dying.’ And that’s heavy and that’s hard.”

Brooke Burke is a proud mother of four kids – two daughters, Neriah and Sierra with ex-husband Garth Fisher, and son Shaya and daughter Rain with ex-husband David Charvet. In the same conversation, the television personality noted that a cancer diagnosis not just affects the patient but the entire family. She even admitted to having learned a valuable lesson about the existence of something greater than herself.

Brooke, post her recovery, started prioritising self-care, trusting her body and medical team, and actively building a strong support network. Commenting on her current health habits, the television star asserted that she never misses out on workouts and had connected with other thyroid cancer patients after the diagnosis. During the phase, she realised many had never had a physical examination.