Atomic Kitten singer Natasha Hamilton has revealed she was diagnosed with skin cancer after mistaking it for a mosquito bite. The 42-year-old shared her story on *Good Morning Britain*, explaining that the diagnosis came last year after she noticed an itchy spot on her back following a holiday in Majorca.
Hamilton said she wasn’t in the sun much during the trip because she was breastfeeding her five-month-old baby. However, one afternoon, while holding her child on her lap, her back was exposed to the sun and got sunburned. Shortly afterward, she felt an itchy spot on her back but thought it was just a mosquito bite. She said, “You don’t get to look at your back very often, do you? It’s tucked away.”
After about four weeks, the itching persisted, which made her suspicious. She asked her husband to check the spot, and when she saw the picture, she realized it was not a simple bite. The mark had originally been a dark freckle she’d had for years but wasn’t raised or a mole.
Hamilton was later diagnosed with basal-cell carcinoma, a common form of skin cancer. She believes her past use of sunbeds in the late 1990s and early 2000s may have contributed. She recalled that back then, sunbeds were popular for getting a “sunkissed look” before nights out or TV appearances. She said, “If I was going to do something like *Top Of The Pops* or a big TV show, I’d want my look sunkissed.” She admitted that she frequently burned on sunbeds, despite being fair-skinned and sensitive to the sun.
Hamilton’s mother, Maria, was also diagnosed with the same type of cancer after Hamilton noticed a mark on her face. Initially, doctors dismissed it as “nothing,” but after a year, Hamilton encouraged her mother to see a dermatologist, who confirmed it was skin cancer and arranged for its removal.
Following her mother’s diagnosis, Hamilton said she changed her lifestyle to reduce her risk of developing skin cancer.
Natasha Hamilton is best known as a member of Atomic Kitten, the pop group famous for hits like “Whole Again” and “Eternal Flame.” Alongside Kerry Katona and Liz McClarnon (and later Jenny Frost), Hamilton helped the band achieve 13 UK top 10 singles and four UK top 10 albums.
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