Peloton Instructor Leanne Hainsby Diagnosed with Breast Cancer - Vanity Fair

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Health Scare

“Chemo is no joke," she wrote on social media after revealing her diagnosis.

January 27, 2023

Peloton Instructor Leanne Hainsby Diagnosed with Breast Cancer

by John Phillips/Getty Images

Peloton instructor Leanne Hainsby revealed this week that she has been quietly battling breast cancer since August of last year.

In an Instagram post on Friday, the fitness instructor posted a few photos of herself during chemotherapy treatment, revealing everything she's been going through over the past few months. “Two days before my best friend's funeral, I found a lump in my breast. That really is a sentence I NEVER imagined writing,” Hainsby began her message to her fans. “After multiple scans and appointments with both consultants and cancer nurses, and being completely terrified for a few weeks, in August 2022, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.”

The beloved cycling teacher went on to write that she has been doing her best to continue living her life as “normal” despite this diagnosis, but that has become increasingly difficult and she has had to adapt her understanding of what “normal” is over the course of this experience. “In terms of my treatment and navigating my way through up until this point, it has been something I've kept very private. As a Peloton instructor, a huge part of my role is all about the members, and despite my diagnosis, that has always mattered to me hugely. My classes have given me a focus, and some sparkle in an otherwise incredibly tough time,” she said. The instructor then thanked everyone who took her classes and “had no idea the amount of joy they were bringing me every day.”

Hainsby confessed that this whole experience, especially in the wake of the death of her best friend, “has been unimaginably tough, and that still feels like an understatement.” She also revealed that she has had surgery to remove the lump and has since completed twelve weeks of chemotherapy, going to her weekly treatment after completing her Wednesday morning live classes for Peloton, writing, “Chemo is no joke. Cold caps are no joke.” She also revealed that in two weeks from now she will have her chemotherapy portacath surgically removed and then undergo two weeks of radiotherapy.

“I do feel very fortunate to be having my treatment privately. The nurses and doctors are incredible, and I wouldn't be here without them. My respect for them is next level,” she wrote on Instagram. “I have so much to say, but for now this is where I'm at, and this is what feels comfortable to share.” Hainsby concluded, “I'm nearly 6 months down the line. I'm in fantastic hands, and I've got this. Nobody wants to be sat in a room and told they have cancer, and yet I've always felt one of the lucky ones. I am one of the lucky ones. Lucky to be diagnosed early, lucky to be moving fast through treatment, lucky to know I WILL BE OK. Your life outlook becomes so very different in times like this. I think anyone who has had to ask 'am I going to die?' to a medical professional would probably say the same. But then you fight. You gain a strength you never knew you had, and you keep pushing forward. Strong, as healthy as possible, and empowered.”