Hollyoaks star Ali Bastian recently revealed she was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer after discovering a lump while she was breastfeeding

Hollyoaks star Ali Bastian was ‘gutted’ after she shaved her head following her breast cancer diagnosis.

She shared a picture of herself wearing a blonde wig while leaning on a propped-up pillow. She wrote: “I’ve found losing my hair a lot harder than I imagined… I did shave my head in the end and didn’t feel the ‘taking back the power’ bit that people talk about. Just felt a bit gutted. However, being an actor I’ve worn wigs lots and I’ve found wearing a wig sometimes really helps me feel more ‘normal’.”

The star added: “This is a fun one I bought online for @hairweavon_com I was staggered by how much wigs can cost so I’ve found a couple of places that do really good lace front synthetic ones.”

Earlier this month, the 42-year-old said she was left in “total shock” after being diagnosed with stage two breast cancer. The star told OK! Magazine she has been having weekly chemotherapy treatment and then early next year will undergo a mastectomy and radiotherapy treatment.

Ali recently explained: “It was a total shock. I have mornings when I wake up and I’ve forgotten… and then suddenly I remember. I’m still trying to process it.” Soap star Ali, who has appeared on the BBC1 series Doctors and also competed in the seventh series of Strictly Come Dancing, discovered a lump when she was breastfeeding her daughter Isabella.

Doctors initially thought it could be a blocked duct but when antibiotics failed to stop the soreness she went to a specialist clinic where tests revealed the cancer. Her husband David O’Mahony said: “I was with the kids and Ali stuck her head round the door and said that cancerous cells had turned up in the biopsy.

“She said it in the most subtle way so the girls didn’t twig. I could see how scared and in shock she was. It’s so tempting to try and ‘positive’ your way through news like this but it just hit us like a sledgehammer. I just had a feeling of it being so unfair that Ali had been dealt this hand.”

The actress, who is known for playing Becca Dean in Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks from 2001 to 2007, moved to rural Ireland from London with their daughters Isla and Isabella earlier this year. Ali posted on instagram about major burn out” caused by life in London and challenges following her second pregnancy being some of the reasons for making the move.