A marathon runner who had a double mastectomy made This Morning history with a topless interview.

Louise Butcher sat down in the ITV studio with hosts Ben Shephard, 50, and Cat Deeley, 48, on Tuesday.

Wearing just her running shorts and shoes, she was completely topless in a first for the show.

The mother-of-two underwent a double mastectomy after being diagnosed with lobular breast cancer in April 2022, and accordingly underwent two surgeries in June and August to have her breasts removed.

Since then, Louise has began running topless to empower herself and others, and is set to race in the upcoming London Marathon.

‘I’ve worked so hard to get these messages out there and empower so many women. It’s about being your authentic self and owning your scars,’ she said.

Louise Butcher, pictured, sat down in the ITV studio with hosts Ben Shephard, 50, and Cat Deeley, 48, on Tuesday
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Louise Butcher, pictured, sat down in the ITV studio with hosts Ben Shephard, 50, and Cat Deeley, 48, on Tuesday

Wearing just her running shorts and shoes, she was completely topless in a first for the show
+6
View gallery

Wearing just her running shorts and shoes, she was completely topless in a first for the show

‘They saved my life – why would I want to hide them?’

Ben asked: ‘How is it running topless in the London Marathon? Firstly, it’s a full on physical challenge, but what’s the reaction that you get from people when they suddenly realise that you’re running topless?’

Louise revealed that the reaction when she took on the London Marathon last year was a mix of ’empowerment and tears of joy’.

‘There are tears of joy when they see me. It was phenomenal last year, like magic. They were cheering, there was no pity there, you can’t pity someone running a marathon,’ she recalled.

Louise reflected on how it first felt when she told people she had been diagnosed with cancer and admitted, ‘But then when you tell everybody they look at you differently. I didn’t want to be pitied for losing my femininity and my breasts.’

Instead, Louise made it her mission to ‘turn that narrative around’ and ‘show the strength, power, resilience, discipline, the determination of a marathon runner with the scars on show’.

‘And then you’re challenging the perception of the pity,’ Louise explained.

‘I couldn’t see anyone having a life, having fun, evolving into something else,’ she added.

The mother-of-two underwent a double mastectomy after being diagnosed with lobular breast cancer in April 2022, and accordingly underwent two surgeries in June and August to have her breasts removed
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The mother-of-two underwent a double mastectomy after being diagnosed with lobular breast cancer in April 2022, and accordingly underwent two surgeries in June and August to have her breasts removed

Since then, Louise has began running topless to empower herself and others, and is set to race in the upcoming London Marathon
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Since then, Louise has began running topless to empower herself and others, and is set to race in the upcoming London Marathon

‘I’ve evolved into something better without them and that’s where I think the acceptance comes from because you’re never going to look back if you’ve become something bigger and you’ve evolved. I never ran marathons when I had boobs.’

Her surgeon suggested Louise could have a reconstruction after the double mastectomy, due to research saying there’s a negative impact on women not having breasts.

Louise reflected how it felt ‘devastating’ when she was first diagnosed, ‘You’re grieving a loss of a person, it took six months of just emotions up and down,’ she added.

‘I thought, this is where you feel the pity, because the pity is kind of coming from you, and now I’m this and I’ve become this and I’ve evolved, there’s no pity there and that sort of sparks out into the surroundings and the stigma starts to go away.

‘So, it kind of comes from you initially and I just wanted to, let’s change perceptions of mastectomy scars.’

Initially, Louise received a clear mammogram but after an ultrasound, ‘found five abnormal areas’ including ‘5cm of lobular breast cancer’.

She explained that she runs topless because she likes ‘to spark the discussion even if it’s negative, because to me that’s valid. People’s perceptions are different’.

Louise revealed that the reaction when she took on the London Marathon last year was a mix of 'empowerment and tears of joy'
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Louise revealed that the reaction when she took on the London Marathon last year was a mix of ’empowerment and tears of joy’

Initially, Louise received a clear mammogram but after an ultrasound, 'found five abnormal areas' including '5cm of lobular breast cancer'
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Initially, Louise received a clear mammogram but after an ultrasound, ‘found five abnormal areas’ including ‘5cm of lobular breast cancer’

Louise revealed she received criticism from people on social media.

‘What are breasts? They’re not genitals, they’re not sexual – they’ve just been sexualised,’ Louise explained.

‘I get criticism because it’s shocking, and that’s hat I wanted to show. A lot of people say I’ll traumatise children. My five-year-old wanted to see my scars,’ she added.

Ben described her as ‘groundbreaking’ and added they were ‘proud’ to welcome her on the ITV sofa.