Bianca Balti has explained how losing her hair due to cancer treatment ‘gave her powers’ as she learnt to disregarded beauty standards. 

The Sports Illustrated model, 40, chose to shave her head and ‘take back control’ when she began chemotherapy in October. 

Bianca discovered she had stage 3C ovarian cancer – which meant that the disease had spread to the outside of the pelvis – after checking into the emergency room with ‘abdominal pain’ last year.

She completed her chemo on January 27 and has since attended the Sanremo music festival in Italy and the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Los Angeles this month. 

Speaking in an interview with The Times, Bianca explained: ‘In a way, losing my hair gave me powers, because I’m not competing to be the H๏τtest or most glamorous girl… it stripped me of a lot of barriers. I have nothing to prove.

‘Sometimes I would look at myself in the mirror and see that I’d lost my hair, my eyebrows, lashes, everything and it would get too much, but I think I’ve turned it into something empowering.’ 

Bianca Balti has explained how losing her hair due to cancer treatment ‘gave her powers’ as she learnt to disregarded beauty standards (pictured last week)

The Sports Illustrated model, 40, chose to shave her head and ‘take back control’ when she began chemotherapy in October (pictured in August 2024)

She continued: ‘I’ve been fighting for my life for the last month … I’m not scared to go on a red carpet.’ 

Bianca shared a health update in a touching Instagram post to mark World Cancer Day on February 4.

She wrote: ‘February 4th. World Cancer Day. It has always been just a random day that some posts on Instagram reminded me of. 

‘Although my aunt died of metastatic breast cancer at age 39 and my mom got myeloma a couple of years ago. 

‘And despite my own diagnosis, back in 2021, of carrying the BRCA1 gene for which, in December 2022, I underwent a preventative double mastectomy.

‘Cancer couldn’t inhabit my thoughts, let alone my body. Until September 8th of 2024, the day that Cancer, Ovarian to be specific, came into my life feeling a whole lot like a death sentence. 

‘On October 14th, I started my chemotherapy journey that just ended last Monday, January 27th, but to my great surprise, those last few months, I felt as alive as ever.

‘I was not taking my life for granted anymore, and my graтιтude hit an all-time peak. Everything started to taste like a real blessing.’ 

Bianca told The Times: ‘In a way, losing my hair gave me powers, because I’m not competing to be the H๏τtest or most glamorous girl… it stripped me of a lot of barriers’ (pictured last month)

Bianca continued: ‘It has been hard, and it isn’t quite over yet, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

‘They say, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” but my experience is that what didn’t kill me made me love life a lot more.’

In September 2024, Bianca revealed she had been diagnosed with cancer after checking herself into the hospital over excruciating ‘abdominal pain.’

She announced her devastating diagnosis in an Instagram post on September 15, in which she admitted it had been a week ‘full of fear, pain and tears.’ 

Still smiling in a hospital gown, the model insisted that she was remaining positive and was sure she was going to ‘beat’ cancer. 

She explained that her diagnosis, which has a five-year survival rate of 39 per cent, had helped her find the ‘beauty through life’s hurdles.’ 

According to Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance, stage 3C ovarian cancer means that the disease is present in one or both fallopian tubes and has spread to the organs outside of the pelvic region.

It may have also spread to the lymph nodes, liver or spleen. 

Treatment for this aggressive form of cancer includes surgery and chemotherapy. 

She shared a health update in a touching Instagram post to mark World Cancer Day on February 4

In September 2024, Bianca revealed she had been diagnosed with cancer after checking herself into the hospital over excruciating ‘abdominal pain’

The beauty announced her devastating diagnosis in an Instagram post on September 15, in which she admitted it had been a week ‘full of fear, pain and tears’

Read More Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model Bianca Balti, 40, reveals devastating news after ‘abdominal pain’

In 2022, Bianca underwent genetic evaluation following a series of medical woes and discovered that she was a carrier of the BRCA1 gene, which is found in those with breast or ovarian cancer. 

Along with the discovery of being a carrier, Bianca learned that she had a 50 per cent chance of being diagnosed with breast cancer and a 30 per cent chance of being diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

By December 2022, she underwent a preventative double mastectomy. 

At the time, she told Vogue: ‘I wasn’t sick, yet — but I knew the chances were much higher that I would be one day. And I now had the free will to do something about it. 

‘The hardest part of this entire process has been the fear. Of finding out the diagnosis, the unknown, of taking time off work, of not knowing how my body will look.’ 

Bianca is a mom to 17-year-old daughter Matilde, whom she shares with ex-husband Christian Lucidi. The couple was married from 2006 to 2010. 

Following their separation,  Bianca tied the knot to Matthew McRae in 2016. They share daughter Mia, nine, together. 

WHAT IS OVARIAN CANCER AND WHAT ARE ITS SYMPTOMS?

Ovarian cancer is a cancer of the ovaries, which are part of the female reproductive system that contain their eggs. There are two ovaries and both are attached to the womb. Cancer on the ovaries can spread to the nearby bowel and bladder.

It is the eighth most common cancer among women, and is most common in women who have had the menopause but it can affect women of any age. 

About 66 per cent of ovarian cancer cases are diagnosed in the more advanced stages of the disease.

At the time of diagnosis, 60 per cent of ovarian cancers will have already spread to other parts of the body, bringing the five-year survival rate down to 30 per cent from 90 per cent in the earliest stage.

It’s diagnosed so late because its location in the pelvis means the symptoms can be vague and difficult to recognize, particularly early on.

They’re often the same as symptoms of less serious conditions, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS).

The most common symptoms of ovarian cancer are:

Feeling constantly bloated A swollen tummyDiscomfort in your tummy or pelvic area Feeling full quickly when eating, or loss of appeтιтe Needing to pee more often or more urgently than normal

See your doctor if:

You’ve been feeling bloated most days for the last three weeks 

You have other symptoms of ovarian cancer that won’t go away – especially if you’re over 50 or have a family history of ovarian or breast cancer, as you may be at a higher risk