Nicki Chapman has revealed the terrifying truth behind what she calls the most frightening experience of her life — the moment she was told she had a brain tumour the size of a golf ball.
The Escape to the Country star, now 57, has opened up about the ordeal in her memoir So Tell Me What You Want, reflecting on the surgery she underwent in 2019 to remove part of the non-cancerous but life-threatening growth.
“Receiving that news was, without doubt, the most shocking and frightening experience of my life — even worse than being chased by an elephant on safari with the Spice Girls,” Nicki wrote, recalling the moment everything changed.
She explained that although surgeons were unable to remove the entire tumour, the remaining portion later disappeared — something she is told is not uncommon. Since then, Nicki has returned for MRI scans every 18 months.
“The only thing it really made me do is have a greater sense of gratitude,” she said. “I had a brain tumour. I didn’t have brain cancer, but my surgeon and the NHS still had that conversation with me. I made my will. Nothing is given — and it gives you an appreciation for life.”
Now an ambassador for the Brain Tumour Charity, Nicki admitted that confronting her own mortality forced her to reflect deeply on the life she has lived.
In a recent interview with The Times, she said: “I’ve had an amazing life and when the bombshell of the tumour dropped, I thought, I don’t want to give this life up. But if this is it — well, how lucky have I been? That may sound glossy, but I’ve always been glass-half-full. I found a strength to deal with it. It was either take me now or let me live.”
Despite returning to work just six weeks after surgery, Nicki confesses she still struggles to talk about her illness.
“It makes me cry,” she admitted quietly.
Her nightmare began in May 2019 while she was recovering from knee surgery. Over just 24 hours, she suddenly experienced loss of vision and slurred speech.
“At first doctors thought I’d had a stroke,” she recalled while speaking to the Brain Tumours Charity. “But scans revealed a golf-ball-sized meningioma.”
She described the moment of diagnosis as overwhelming: “It’s the shock of hearing it — then the shock of telling people. When you have to ring your family and explain what’s happening, it’s hideous.”
Throughout the ordeal, Nicki’s husband of over two decades, music producer Dave Shackleton, was by her side.
“He’s been amazing — much stronger than I ever expected,” she said. “In many ways it’s even harder for those who love you.”
Now more than four years on, Nicki is determined not to let her diagnosis define her.
“I’ve put it in a filing cabinet in my head,” she explained. “It will always be there — but I don’t need to keep opening it.”
