Less than a month after fans caught up with Kelly Hyland on the Dance Moms reunion special, the former Lifetime star revealed that she was recently diagnosed with breast cancer.
“The first red flag was my significant weight loss,” Hyland, 53, told E! News in an interview published on Wednesday, May 29. “I lost enough that others noticed and would ask for my dieting hacks, but there was nothing I had changed in my day-to-day to cause the loss.”
She proceeded to book a mammogram in late March after discovering a lump in her breast. “I had just had one done eight months prior and the results came back clean,” Hyland explained. “However, this new mammogram and sonogram did not, it came back showing a mass.”
After Hyland underwent a biopsy, the mass came back as malignant, and she was diagnosed with invasive carcinoma grade 3. She told the outlet that breaking the news to her kids Brooke, 26, Josh, 24, and Paige, 23, via phone call was a “very hard conversation for us all,” especially since her mother died of cancer in 2019. (Kelly shares her kids with ex-husband Randy Hyland.)
“We watched my Nana battle cancer for years, so I knew that we were at the start of a very long and challenging road,” Brooke, who got engaged to fiancé Brian Thalman earlier this month, told E! News. “I hated that I had to watch another important person in my life go through it.”
Kelly went on to note that her former Dance Moms costars “are aware of what is going on” and have “been extremely supportive and are willing to film around my treatment schedule and how I’m filming.”
Kelly, Brooke and Paige starred on seasons 1 through 4 of Dance Moms from 2011 to 2014. The three left the show before the end of season 4 as a result of tensions between Kelly and dance coach Abby Lee Miller. Kelly currently cohosts the “Dear Dance Mom …” podcast with Melissa Gisoni (mother of Maddie and Kenzie Ziegler), Holly Frazier (mother of Nia Sioux) and Jill Vertes (mother of Kendall Vertes). She also hosts the “Back to the Barre” podcast with Christi Lukasiak (mother of Chloé Lukasiak).
As she continues to battle breast cancer, Kelly said the “toughest part” for her has been “accepting help from the people around me,” adding, “I am a very independent person and, as a mom, I’m used to being the one taking care of people, not the one being taken care of.”
Kelly has received help from her sister Carrie Matarazzo, who is acting as her “main caretaker,” and her kids. Paige and Brooke teamed up with Pittsburgh’s Serenity Wig Salon to create a custom wig for their mother.
“Both the salon and my girls being there with me made me feel comfortable and more confident as the thought of losing my hair has been hard for me,” Kelly shared. Now on her second of six chemotherapy treatments, Kelly has also been using a scalp cooling cap to prevent hair loss. Her chemotherapy will be followed up by 11 more treatments, radiation and surgery.
Paige praised her mother’s strength, telling the outlet, “This is going to be a long, challenging year, but if anyone can kick cancer’s butt, I’m confident it’s my mom!”
Fans, celebrities and Dance Moms stars flooded Kelly’s Instagram comments with well-wishes on Wednesday after she reposted the article via social media. “Love you so much! You got this, and we got you! You are so unbelievably being so strong! 💪 ❤️,” Gisoni, 55, wrote on the post, while Christi, 47, commented, “I love you and the kids. Forever have your back 🩷🩷.”
