DIY SOS STAR’S EX WIFE Nick saved my life... he got me to my GP and now he’s here, cooking and planting flowers
COMING round in a hospital bed Jessica Knowles opened her eyes and took stock of the sterile surroundings.
Aged just 28 she had undergone a lifesaving operation after being diagnosed with cervical cancer.
The last thing she had done was write a heartbreaking goodbye letter to her 23-month-old son.
Coming out of theatre, she was met with a warm smile and a man reached out to hold her hand.
Waiting for her with their son Eddie was her estranged husband – the TV star Nick Knowles.
Now in a moving interview Jessica reveals how it was DIY SOS host Nick, 53, who saved her life.
For he persuaded her to go the doctors after she confided in him that she was unwell.
Within days of her cancer diagnosis she had surgery to save her life – and hopefully rid her of the disease for good.
Since that moment a fortnight ago, Nick has remained by her side, taking care of Jessica and their son.
Jessica says: “Nick is a wonderful friend, he’s here all the time, he’s amazing with Eddie.
“The BBC gave him time off. Nick comes over and cooks me food, he’s even planted flowers in my garden.
“He wanted me to be surrounded by colour.”
RESPECT
Opening up to the Sunday Mirror, Jessica tells of the “most difficult year of her life”.
The rot set in for her and Nick last year and she admits she is still struggling over the split, which finally came in January.
She adds: “He’s still there for me but it’s hard. I’m really sad we split. We’re really amicable. He’s still my best friend. I have so much respect and time for him. It’s been hard not being part of a couple.
“To not be able to lie next to the person you were with for eight years and tell them what you’re going through and how you’re scared.”
Fitness blogger Jessica revealed her cancer ordeal on social media earlier this month.
Yesterday, back at her pretty terraced home in Windsor, Jessica shows few outward signs of discomfort and pain despite surgery almost as complicated as a heart op.
Such is the strength of her character and determination to fight on for her young son.
But inwardly, she is still coming to terms with what has happened.
And she reveals the cancer was the latest in a series of blows over the last 12 months.
She had the trauma of separating from Nick, losing their baby and dealing with the death of her beloved gran. Jessica says: “I’ve been to hell and back. My whole life has fallen apart. I’ve lost two people I love and I’ve been seriously ill.
“Me and Ni c k separated, then I had a miscarriage. I had to pack up my life in Spain – we had relocated to Anda l u c i a and thought it would be a nice life for Eddie, but it didn’t materialise. I had to put away wedding albums and separate our belongings. Then my nanny died. I couldn’t deal with her death then because I was alone in Spain with my son. Then I came back and grieved for her.
“It was so hard. It just started to feel like I was beginning to breath and then this happened.”
Jessica says staying friends with Nick helped tackle a torrid period she likened to “being punched in the face four times”.
It was Nick, her husband of four years, who forced her to go to the doctors after she complained of tiredness and suffering from bleeding in between her periods.
Nick had been through a scare himself – needing surgery after rupturing an artery in his sinus.
Jessica took his advice to go to her GP. She and her mum, Su Reynolds, had a heart-to-heart the night before her test result came through.
Jessica explains: “I said ‘Can we talk honestly?’ We researched best and worst- case scenarios. She’s been my absolute rock. I didn’t cry when I was told I had cancer – I had mentally prepared myself.
“They did an MRI scan to see if it had spread.
“I came back from hospital that day and there were pictures on the table of Eddie which nursery had printed off. I just cried.
“I thought to myself, I’m 28, I have a two-year-old, I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t sleep around. Why me?”
On July 8 she had a radical trachelectomy – keyhole surgery to remove the cervix – and diseased lymph nodes were cut out.
By avoiding a hysterectomy it means Jessica can have more kids – a ray of light amidst all the doom.
Jessica can’t hold back the tears as she talks about the note she left Eddie in case she didn’t make it. She says: “That was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do. In the letter, I
I’m really sad we split, it’s been hard. But he’s my best friend and is there for me JESSICA KNOWLES ON TELLY STAR NICK’S SUPPORT