Brittany Daniel made her grand return as Kelly Pitts on BET’s The Game last night, but nearly three years since first leaving leaving the show — we now know that Brittany’s been privately battling cancer.
After experiencing excruciating back pain, night sweats and flu-like symptoms in 2011, she decided to go see a doctor and was given the news that she had stage IV non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
“It happened so suddenly,” she tells People exclusively. “There is is no way I would have ever gotten through this without my family. My family is everything to me and I feel like they saw me through this.”
Daniel, who became a recognizable face after starring with her twin sister Cynthia in the ’90s teen drama TV series Sweet Valley High, immediately began chemotherapy and lived in Cynthia’s guest house during recovery.
“My mom was the hugest support for me,” she said. “She was my rock. My sister [Cynthia] was just amazing, she took me into her home and I ended up staying at my sister’s house. My mom moved in with me, we stayed at my sister’s guest house and my mom took care of me for a year and a half.”
The blond beauty is now healthy and cancer-free, and although she planned on keeping the entire matter private, Daniel felt that by sharing her story, she can inspire others who are also fighting a similar battle.
“I want to let people know it is absolutely possible to get through something like this,” she says. “I want people to know they are not alone.”
You never know what people are going through behind closed doors. Kudos to Brittany for choosing to share her story.
[via E! News]
