Begin Again with Davina McCall - Delta Goodrem: I Faced Cancer With The World Watching

Episode Date: August 28, 2025

In this episode of Begin Again, Australian singer songwriter and global pop icon Delta Goodrem shares the deeply personal story behind her sudden and life altering cancer diagnosis at just 18, right as her career was exploding. From topping charts and starring on Neighbours to waking up in a cold sweat with a terrifying premonition, Delta opens up about the whirlwind that followed. Public scrutiny, treatment in the spotlight, and the emotional toll of losing her voice, her identity, when the world was watching. She speaks with raw honesty about isolation, resilience, and how it took years to truly come back to herself. Now, decades later, she reflects on the gifts hidden inside the chaos, the support she received, and how gratitude became her way through. 👉 Follow us on Instagram: @beginagain 🎥 Watch more on TikTok: @beginagainpod Delta: https://www.instagram.com/deltagoodrem/?hl=en (00:00) Intro (01:19) Delta’s Story & Starting Over (03:55) The Power of Language (04:30) Gratitude and Curiosity About Life (05:44) First Steps into Acting and Family Support (07:50) Her Mother’s Accident and Traumatic Birth (09:44) Musical Beginnings and a Twist of Fate (12:32) Recording a Demo at 13 and the Sydney Swans Connection (18:02) Recording Her First Album at 15 (21:16) Trusting Her Inner Voice (23:07) Landing Neighbours and Rising to Fame (29:28) Airbnb Ad Break (30:31) Realizing She Had a Hit (31:43) A No. 1 Album and Growing Concerns (36:08) Intuition Before the Storm (41:09) Cancer Diagnosis at 18 (45:33) Outpouring of Support from Fans and Community (49:22) Treatment Journey and Road to Recovery (52:29) Life After Beating Cancer (54:49) Losing Her Voice and Starting Over Again (58:58) Letting Go of Control and Resetting (01:01:42) Meeting Her Partner Matt – Sponsored by: Airbnb - https://www.airbnb.co.uk/host Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Please sit and stretch. Steep. Flip. Or that and enjoy. Via Rail, love the way. Your wildest dreams are coming true and you get the worst news. You've had like 30 years in show business. There was kind of an opening to be signed at 15.

It was pretty wild. It just all happened at the same time. I would go to set, fly to New York, make some of the music come. make some of the music come back to set. Wow. But then, um, I basically had a nightmare, a very dark figure, came to me on a grave with a note. It just was like, danger, danger is happening. Album was number one. I was on a flight that week to head to the States. By the night time, they said, we have to take you to the hospital. And that was the first time I heard, they think you have cancer. I ended up finding a lump, and then my whole world changed.

I woke up and I couldn't speak. We didn't know. We didn't know. I didn't know whether this is going to be six months, a year, five years. The biggest surrender in that was that I don't have control of this at all. Sometimes your hands get ripped off the steering wheel. Yeah. I just started to sort of be like, get back to my very authentic self. And that chapter was essential to my life. I admire you so much your ability to see the good come out of every dark place,

find the light and head towards it. So Delta, Devena. Firstly, I just want to say how excited I am to have you on here. I mean, you've had such an enormous impact. But over decades, what, like 30 years in show business in some form or another, 35 probably. Well, yes, I did start at 7. 7. Yeah, mad.

I was going, yeah, that would be about 30 years. And what an impact you've had on so many people. I think musically, lyrically, you speak to people in a way that many artists kind of can't quite, you resonate with people. That's what I'm trying to say. Anyway, it's an honour to have you on. The honour is mine and you're an absolute icon. And I am truly inspired by your continued conversation. of the concept of beginning again

and all the different moments that we restart and begin life again and I just deeply resonate with that and I'm really grateful to get to chat today. I mean I knew about like one of the begin agains that you had but when I actually started reading about you in more depth I was absolutely blown away by how many times.

Yes, it's been a view. It has. And maybe it was a cycle, I don't know, but there's been quite a few moments life just continuing to teach. And that's another thing I love about you, that each calamity that you've been through has taught you something. 100%. I do truly, my heart has always had the same understanding of collecting the information of,

I can do better. I always feel like I'm sometimes the slowest person that gets on the jet ski, but I'll always work really hard at continuing to be the first. by the end of the day. You know, I'll always take in the lessons or get rid of what doesn't serve me. And also understand that there must be a reason this is happening. What am I reflecting from the inside? I'm very, very sure that there's always a lesson in something that's happening.

And what could I learn from this and be better tomorrow? That's literally, it's pretty simple. But at the same time, you know, you really do have to continually treasure hunt for like a truth within something if it hasn't gone the way you thought it would or whether it's been a difficulty. And I do truly believe there's always something to be learned from it. It is interesting, isn't it, that language is so important because you've just talked about a time where something hasn't maybe turned out as you hoped it would in life. But you're calling it a treasure hunt. Yes. And the treasure that you're looking for is a reason or an

explanation. For sure, a truth. Just something that when you feel it, It's amazing when you find a truth within something and that it just kind of disperses. Like there's some sort of air out of the bubble that you go, ah, that makes sense why that happened. Or I see it now. And sometimes it takes a really long time. And was that something that happened with your family or do you think you just were born with a gratitude? I'm interested because I've been grateful all my life, but I do feel a little bit like, I think I first found gratitude when I got clean from drugs.

And I was about 24 and I was grateful for seeing sunrise. Not going to bed at sunrise. Waking up with the sunrise, waking up in dry sheets. Like really little things were so brilliant because it had been so hard. And I wondered if there had been something that had made you grateful. You just grew up with that sense of gratitude. It was your family kind of. I think that my parents were extremely loving parents.

Growing up, you know, we had, my brother was, you know, is a beautiful soul. And I do think we had a very Australian outback. I grew up outdoors. And I think that, you know, I just grew up in a lovely area, you know, just a very simple, just very leafy, lots of trees. and I had this sort of separate world of music outside of my school. And by accident, I started getting cast in TV shows purely because I wanted to play, just wanted to play with the classroom. This seems like a lot of fun.

There's a lot of kids in the room. What can we do? What can we? And those first couple weeks of school, I was getting in trouble a lot very quickly, just like at five years old, like just wanting to entertain. And then they just said to my parents very quickly, she needs extra curriculums. She's very active, very excitable. And so then I went to local places.

And then I started by the time I was seven in adult jobs. You know, and then I'd be a kid at school. But then I'd be able to go and be with all ages quite young. And I have core memories of being on set of the comedy I was on or the drama. But then it was just my parents would teach me the discipline. and to save the money from the jobs that I would do when I started piano and just, I did a lot of activities. I think my parents and humbly worked hard and for everything they had. And I think they gave my brother and I a lot of opportunity to discover what our passion was.

Do you know, for anybody that's watching this thinking about becoming a parent is amazing lessons to hear of how to bring up. children in a very well-rounded way, the opportunities that you got. It's very kind. It makes me quite emotional when you say that. Yeah. It's a really, whilst my parents aren't together and it's been a, it's been a different chapter as an adult, I really loved the way that I'm really proud of my parents for them when we were kids.

Well, I just like to publicly say to them, they did a great job. Hey, they'd still be telling me to make my bed in the mornings, you know. strong. But that's exactly it, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Love and boundaries. Yes, absolutely. And you got both, you know. Yeah. I would, I would like to go back actually to what happened when you were born. Yes, yes. Whenever I've been somewhere and we've been talking about an emotional topic or something and they go, how was your birth? And I was thinking, why are you asking me that? But, you know, mine was pretty traumatic and yours was too. Could you just talk me through what happened to your mum when you were born. For sure. So my mum was about six months, seven bit and a bit

pregnant and she was sitting at a traffic light. And it was, my dad explains that it was extremely stormy day and somebody ran into the back of my mom's car and pushed her into ongoing traffic. So basically she rushed, got rushed to hospital. It was obviously I was two and a half, three months too early. Sure, yeah. So they were trying to keep me in, and my mom ended up having about 27 operations, dual reconstructions.

She went through, you know, so much. And then I had to join the world, so it was time for me to come in. We had an emergency operation. They tried for, like, I think, during a couple of surgeries to keep us. Keep me there. But then my mom always says this memory going,

save the baby she remembers it was quite she goes save the babies and they said what could is the baby without the mum we'll look after both of you and she remembers going off to sleep and then the trauma of that going to sleep and not knowing if you were going to be okay yeah and it was a first child and

and we didn't see each other for a good you know I think I can't I would I don't want to shoot in the dark and say but for a while yeah and then a nurse snuck me in to meet my mum Did she? It was our first meeting, yeah. Wow.

Because she was in recovery. We both had a lot of recovery in that moment. And as fate had it, my dad, my mom had always said she wanted to play the piano. She'd never learn. And then my dad bought just a little upright piano when I was born. And then that was my instrument in life. I mean, it's very dramatic. Well, it's not that.

Extreme, extreme. I often think about these moments. of synchronicity where if this accident hadn't happened would your dad have got your mum the piano? Yeah, I don't know. Is that how you learnt the piano? On that piano? Yes, yes. That was my

slowly finding the music. And my parents didn't have a big music repertoire Davina. They listened to about three people, John Farnham, Joe Cocker and the Jive Bunny. That's it. Can we please, I want to thank you. Tell me.

I didn't know why you were called Delta. Oh, yes, yes. And then I found out. Joe Cocker. Joe Cocker, Delta Lady. That's right. What a banger. I think it's a banger too.

Because I listened to it all my childhood. And I listened to it again yesterday. I knew every single word. That's awesome. So you're mine. Yes, you're my. Delta Lady. Oh my God.

Have you covered that? No, I haven't. Delta? I wasn't sure about singing my own name. Yes, sir. Definitely. Or at the next gig. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh my God, it would be so good.

You sounded so good just then singing it. Nailing it with my extreme husky tones. Housky tones. My pollen, London fever. Paul and London fever. New album. That's catchy. D&D.

Dvina and Delta's pollen album. So at 13, you did this rather incredible thing where you took your money. Yes. you'd made from all of your acting. Yeah. And you got some tracks together and you made a little kind of demo. Yes. Now, just taught me through that Delta because that's an amazing thing to do.

Again, a very mature thing for a 13-year-old. Yeah, so my parents had said to me, you know, from this work on, you know, you could have $1,000 or, you know, something from the different size and the commercials. would you like to put it towards a CD and make a, you know, do a demo with these songs you've written? Or would you like to save up for a car? My brother saved up for a car and my parents and him got a car when they were 18 and I said, no, I'd like to, I'd like to make an album please. So I went to a local recordings to you with my piano teacher.

And I was like, I feel like Celine Dion in here. I was 12. And we had the yellow pages where you'd go and, look for like a local photographer and we took some photos and made my first album. I was about 12 and I did the anthem and some covers on it as well but I had written about five songs and they were my very first songs that I had written just from I composed once I would learn like a chord or an arpeggio or something on the piano I would go home from the lesson and then just start to like evolve from it, write something on top of it or go.

oh that's cool I can do this oh then I can add this and then my singing teacher just said why don't you just add melody and lyrics and it seemed so simple after I'd started composing piano first and then these songs we sent to every single parent everybody in the entire hills district where I grew up had this CD it was like the the demo that every single person in the neighborhood had and then as fate had it one of our family friends um we sent it to the sydney swan my football team, like you'd send Manchester, Arsenal or someone. I sent it to my football club. Wait, wait, Delta.

Yes. Hold my hands for a minute. Yes. So, like, you've just said to me, like, you would send it to Arsenal. I don't know. Wait, no, but wait, Arsenal is my team. Oh, good. No, but wait, what I want to say is, like, that's ballsy.

Like, I'm, bear in mind, you're 12, 13. You send it to Sydney Swans. Like, that's really brave. I think I had a, sometimes I have to tap into the 12 year old version of myself because I think I lost her a couple times in my life but my 12 year old was a, I was a really strong spirit out the game. Like, let's do this. Let's go and do that.

And kind of, there's a beautiful lack of fear. Oh, 100%. When you're that age. Like you don't think about being rejected. No, no, no, no. I mean, you know, I think, I even went through a lot of. at that time when I started to go for auditions, I think I'd nearly got this full time on Home and Away from this demo.

And I was like, yes, this is like I'm going. And I did not end up in Home and Away. Ended up in Neighbors a couple years later. But Home and Away had crossed paths when I was about 13, so younger. But thank God it didn't. I'm glad that that path wasn't the case because I was still at school and sell my braces and, you know, doing all my. But back to the Sydney Swans, the full.

Football Club. Was it Aussie rules? Ozzy rules. It's such a good sport. It's an incredible sport. It is so exciting to watch. Yes. My brother was an AFL player.

As time went on, my brother, that was his world. And we were a big AFL family. So we never missed a game. Sydney Swans was our team. And as Fade had it, music was also a part of that. So basically someone walked past the locker and thought, oh, I'm going to send that on to Glenn Wheatley, who was a famous manager in his restaurant.

earlier for with John Farnham. But how did, oh. And they just, make a noise and make it clear. Oh my God, I got downed to sing. That was a banger. It's a banger. It's an anthem.

It's actually an instrument. It's an anthem. But wait, I don't understand how the player knew him. Was it just a random, like, oh, it's a mate? Someone at the club that I had sent this CD to, thought we will send it on. He was a Sydney Swan supporter. We will send it on to, so someone beautifully, someone who worked there said,

I know I'll send it on to the Sydney Swans. And then they, to Glenway, sorry. And then as he said he walked past his locker and saw a football, so then I'll grab the football envelope. And then he opened up and it was my CD and he, and I was 12, 13 and he called my mom. Unbelievable. That's how he first started. And then what?

I had no other connection to music industry or anything. I lived an hour out of the city. I had no. I just started working on TV by natural chance. And this was fortuitous and I'm very grateful for that. So basically you'd met Glenn and you're 13 going on 30. Yeah. And he's interested.

Yes. But you don't make an album there and then. What happened? So I did end up going to Melbourne and ended up like making another demo CD. Yeah. I missed a term of school and was in Melbourne recording, learning. And then when I was 15 years old, we said we would go and start. shopping to the major labels.

And then I think we rehearsed. I had these, you know, basically what happened, I guess the door opens in culture. It was young girls that were getting signed. You know, they'd sort of Brittany and Christina. And then Alicia Keys had just come out. So there was kind of an opening to be signed at 15. And that door opened. And I walked in and did performances with, you know, I'd had dances, I had pianos.

I had the whole thing. We worked so hard. I remember we'd be at my mom's and dad's house. And we would, we rehearse so much. Just remember every day. And then I remember the head of Sony, Dennis, who I subsequently worked with for 22 years from that day.

To stay with Sony for 22 years. Absolutely. And I loved my time. And I loved our, we did great things together. And I'll never forget, Glenn walking back upstairs and him saying congratulations you're a Sony girl. And we went and had ice cream at Bondi Beach.

That's what we did. We ran around on the beach. There was all these tourists and we were running into the photos. And it was one of those days where I can snapshot in my mind see us running along Bondi Beach and getting ice creams. I mean, for a 15-year-old, that is absolutely amazing. What a fantastic experience. But I also remember myself as being 15 and thinking, you know, I knew everything and I was, but actually you're quite vulnerable when you're 15 and the music industry. For sure.

How did you keep yourself safe? I do believe it's having a strong mother next to me. I also think that I just. I really was very lucky or call it what you will. I really loved my product manager, like the person that I would speak to a lot. Dennis really was like a second father from that time. He had a lot of kids as well. And I grew up with, I had great mentors.

Yeah. I didn't, I had wonderful respect between them and me. And I always knew to, I was just always knew when to leave. Yeah. everything. I wasn't really, I never hung around things or, but I did also learn pretty quickly when I signed that no one was going to do the work for me. So when I did sign though, I did have the realization of thinking, okay, well, maybe everyone knows what they're talking about. And I learned really quickly. I was like, oh, okay, right, right. Well, I've got a vision around here. So what are we

doing and I'd be at school and no one would call back and I was already in my parents study going hello could we um I've got an idea for the music video and they're like no no everybody uses this person and I was like I don't know and the product manager who again is a dear friend of mine for life and he he was he was so soft and kind and he'd be like oh come on like everyone I was like I really don't like that guy like Pete I really don't like that guy don't think he'd be like okay what have you got in mind and I'd go and I'd like write a music video and call all my friends at school say well you do my music video and just be because otherwise there's this extras agency that says they're going to charge this so I um I was already sort of starting that process

do you know what I I am realizing is how unique you are oh thank you no honestly I think I think I think what's interesting is how what you're talking about, you're kind of laughing about and saying how funny it was that, you know, you had an idea and you wanted to do it this way. Yeah. But how daunting that is for a 16, 17 year old to be entering into a profession that they have wanted to be in since they can remember. For sure. And you have got this unbelievable opportunity given to you. that could be taken away from you if it doesn't work out.

And you were aware that if I want to make it work, it's got to be on my terms because it has to be authentic. For sure. I can't believe you knew that at that age. For sure. I think the more scary part for me was more when it all started happening. Right. That's when I started getting a little more shook.

And when all of a sudden everyone then starts looking, it's kind of like you're going, okay, what about this, this, this? And then all of a sudden the whole room then turns. I'm like, all right, kid. Well, you know, that was probably the more daunting moments that came for me. Was that after you'd done the video, like how you wanted and... Well, no, more when the success of the first album started happening, that was more probably where that was a bit more of a different world.

But the lead up into the vision, I felt, you know, I was moving with passion. And also, like you said, I think there was something in my heart that had a very clear idea of my, what the ethos of what I wanted to share. I liked lifting people up. I like talking about you can do it, like hang on, be strong, like never give up. I liked what I wanted to make people's day better. Like I wanted that and I still have that drive through music. And it was like, and I've told the story a million times, it was like getting the role with neighbors

where when they said, you know, we'll put you in as the bad girl. And I was like, I just don't think that's using me in the best way. I really think that. Oh, I didn't know you were going to be cast as someone else. Someone else, yes. And I got sent the script. It relates to what you're saying.

Where I then basically my story, soul just cried. I was like, no, no, no, no, no. I've like, I've got this song born to try. I can't, we can't do it like this. And I called the producers and, and then I thought I was going to lose my job. I was crying. I was like, Glenn was on the funny. But they, but I had an innate trust from the gentlemen and the people in my life. I had a lot of, we had a lot of trust. He said, okay, all right, let's call them up. Let's have a conversation. Wow. And he was, And this gentleman, the casting agent, Peter Dodds, his name was, he had cast me when I was a seven-year-old in a country practice. I never knew that until many years later.

And I went, wait a minute. Does he know that he cast me? Wow. He was the person who gave me my big break. But you've slightly blown my mind there because you have had like an unbelievable ability to change. the course of your life. Can we good and bad? Yeah, well, we were talking about that earlier.

There is no bad. Yes, no, you're right. You're right. The bad is good. 100%. Somewhere down the line. But this idea that you said, I don't want to play this part. Yes, yeah.

In Neighbors. Yes, yes. Right, the biggest show on TV or worldwide TV. We all watch Neighbors. My very first song peaked at 62. Let's be clear here, my very, very first one that I'd had out where I had walked the path of joining a major label where they said, this is what we do. Even though I had created my own music video for it and gone against what had been said, you did it with, you know, teamwork. There was, I didn't have any reason to be able to do that at this point.

My parents were like this and the other words, they were. looking at me when I made the call going, okay. I mean, God, Delta, there's just, I just keep thinking about things. I want to talk about every two minutes because what I'm hearing from you is that your subconscious was really looking out for you. Yes, yes. All the time. Yes. And that you heard a voice going, no. For sure, for sure. That's a, that's such a gift to be able to access. that. So you started in Neighbors. You had had this song that hadn't done brilliantly, but then Neighbors cast you as a singer.

Yes. So they saw an article that said, Hey Dad, which was a show on as a kid. And they said, now Delta is, you know, Delta, something about a pop star or some sort of thing like that. And they saw the article and that's how I got joined to the cast. and then that story happened and then I joined I kind of

I think because I'd had the song out of it had it done I was like I was going to join neighbours and I'll see what happens and I'll get to sing in that instead I think you'll appreciate this

this one actually in that time on that first single it was called I don't care which is so not even my so not my I very much care I very much care It was a very catchy song, you know.

But the, how's this my faith? The artists that had just won a pop idol or some first Out the Gate shows. Yes. Before like Idol Idol, there was like the pop stars. Yes. And so we were doing this in-store at this shopping centre. And a lot of people were there for him. And I was, again, brand new, had this song.

and we were sitting there and his co-writer, gentleman called Audius, was with him, beautiful kind gentleman from Zimbabwe. And I was sitting there and not one person came to us to sign my CD. Like not one. I'm 16 years old. They're all asking this lovely artist, so when they're all getting his and they're all like, I asked us, I was like, it's okay, it's fine, it's fine. So I got off and I was a little, you know, a little emotional, a little like, it's okay.

No one wants the city. And then Audius, who was with him, he was like, oh, you play. I'd already got my job on Neighbors, so I was heading to neighbors. I just thought, okay, it's all right. But Audius is there. And he goes, oh, why don't I just come over and write some songs together? And I was like, I'd love that. That'd be great.

And he goes, you play piano. And I said, yeah, but it wasn't really part of the first song. He's like, well, let's just sit and play piano for a couple days. I was like, I'd love that. Came over. We play basketball. We'd write a song. On the last day, he said,

should we have some lunch or do you want to like write another song? I said, yeah, let's write another song. And we wrote Born to Try. Wow. And so from that came. Then at signings, I started doing 11-hour signings at shopping centers and never sat and kept going for the records of 16 hours in shopping centers during my time on neighbors. It was quite the role.

But you know, that, again, is a vacation. again because I think that you could have very easily after not having anybody sign your CD, so they said you want to do some music, you had neighbours, you could have very easily said it's okay. Yeah, no. No, no, no, no, no. Yeah. Wow. So you were doing neighbours and singing concurrently. So then it all took off at the one time. Then it was a complete, then I was, then I was, then I was working. I was basically, it started there.

I would go to set, fly to New York, you know, make some of the music come back to set. Wow. At night time I'd go from like 9pm to like 4 a.m.

in the studio, have a couple hours late, go to neighbors. It was pretty wild. It just all happened at the same time. The song took off. It went number one.

The album, it just all started. It just was like a beautiful, the character having the storyline. We only had this small window before I started airing on Neighbors

to make the album. Right. Make innocent eyes. And the beauty in it was it really was innocent. It was, I'd write a simple, you know, a song by myself or I'd get to

start to do a couple of co-writes with Gary Barlow and Illet Kennedy. Yes, I saw that. Need a vehicle that isn't afraid to make a splash? That's the Volkswagen Towers. Capable and confident, the Volkswagen Taos is fit for everyday life, nimble in traffic, agile and tight spots, and still spacious enough for weekend getaways.

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Westjet, where your story takes off. He was one of the first people I ever wrote with. Did he contact you? No, we were connected through label when he was producing. I went to Manchester and that was the first, you know, I was 16 and I was one of his first kind of, one of his begin agains of doing production in his time. And he's obviously been a special friend ever since. Yeah.

So we are at the best time of your life. For sure. Everything you have worked so hard to get. It's not like it was handed to you on a platter. You literally grafted. Yes. To get to this amazing position where you've got a number one best-selling album. Yes.

And a job on the biggest TV show. Yes. In the world, like ever, and you get hit with some news that changed your life in a massive way. When did you know you were unwell? It's a great question. It was hard to decipher between how much work I was doing and if I was unwell. Because it was not normal what was happening. in the sense that it was so, so exciting and so incredible.

And I still got to, I mean, I see the pattern of I was still getting to have fun. I was on set with my friends, you know, but acting. And I still had a bit of protection bubble. It's like when I was at school, I'd still go and do these things, but I still had a bit of a protection bubble where I would go to neighbours. But then on the weekends, we were flying over to do Top of the Pops and, you know, UK shows and singing those, having those moments and learning how to deal with the extra nerves. Obviously, that was a whole new toolkit on how to deal with that you could sing great when there's nobody there.

But then when you have all this adrenaline and this, you know, other sensors, how do you drop in and stay in your heart? And I kind of went through all those quick, rapid via. How do I learn? Yeah, that's amazing. And also I had a deep not wanting to ever disappoint anyone or, you know, wanting to give everyone as much as I had. And I was definitely giving more than I had ability to keep for my own energy, which was what started to happen. You know, if someone would come up to me and they, you know, they liked, they loved the music or they'd been touched, then I had this like wanting to give my, like my blood and soul to people. So I kind of was just this a vessel of too much, you know, given not enough probably looking after how to be able to balance what was happening.

But it's very hard when there was, you know, we were doing no word of a lie, 12 to 14 hour signings. I remember being at High Point Shopping Centre. And I just remember, I said to them, is anybody there? This was very early. I was like, did anybody come? And they were like, oh, look to me and they're like, yeah, there's a few people here. I was like, oh, okay. Born to try just out on the radio.

It was getting a lot of momentum. But I still, I didn't have the concept of that physicality of people taking it into their homes yet. And it was CD before streaming or anything. And I just remember these two doors opening. And I remember just going and just seeing just. seas of people and just going, wow, something's happening. You know, this is, this is, this is big and this is phenomenal.

And, you know, the album stayed number one for seven and a half months. And I mean, it was a pretty wild. Obviously that would be exhausting in itself. So it was. So I started to get a few rashes. This sounds as a symptomatic kind of conversation, I started to, my immune system was starting to break down where you start to have night sweats, which is something that I've, you know, you learn later on.

And I had started to see all these like immune rushes. And I'd go to the doctor and they would say, no, sign, your stress. It was very, and I understand, like I said, very hard for people to decipher between you're flying to the UK for a weekend. Yes. And then you're flying back. Lost without you had just gone number, I think two on the charts. and so then we'll fly over on the weekend and do the TVs on the weekend.

So we would fly over, then I'd fly back and have to be on set. And so I can see, it was hard, but I ended up finding a lump. So my, sorry, this side, my, a tiny lump had started to sort of develop, and I, I would feel it and I was like, you couldn't see it, but you could just feel it. That's interesting. But then it started to get bigger. And to jump past the immune rashes and things that were kind of happening and my general starting to feel exhausted. Right. I started to, I remember I had done a day on set, I'd done a meet and greet dinner.

My parents were not at the apartment in Melbourne this night. I was, you know, I was living part by myself already at this point. and I remember walking to the apartment and kind of just remember everything was sort of moving and swaying and another day of just me going, I'm just so tired, I'm just so tired. But I wouldn't surrender. I'm just not someone who surrenders easily to my detriment and I'll just keep going and I just you know, sort of kept pushing. Went to bed and I woke up at 3.31 and I wrote a song about.

called 331. I basically had a nightmare and saw a very dark figure and came to me with a grave on a grave with a note. And I, at 331, I woke up, drenched. I was head to toe like I'd been in the ocean. And I was frozen with fear, completely frozen, just still, just still. to what I had just seen and that I'd woken up like I'd been in a bath. My first sort of thoughts were maybe someone has broken in or there's danger. Or I just was like, danger, danger is happening. Something is dangerous. And then I thought maybe I'm just having a premonition or maybe something is, you know,

but I called my mom, called my mom, called the home phone, you know, to wake them up in the household, something's going to happen to me. Something's going to happen. I don't know what's wrong. Something's going to happen. And then they said, you know, my mom was like, it's okay, so calm. And then I called another friend, I think, and woke them up. And the runner on set, who's still one of my best friends as well today, I called her, woke her up and said, can you please come here? I didn't go back to sleep. I was just shaken. Stayed away. got to neighbours. My call was 5.30 or something anyway, so I was up anyway.

We drove to neighbours, my girlfriend, Lutz and I, and I told everyone. I said, something's going to happen. Something's going to happen to me. I don't know what's happening. And they're all like, Delta, you're just really tired. I was like, no, I'm very scared. This is just quite crazy, though. You knew.

Yes, it was, I told everyone. And it wasn't like I was backwards. I was like, something's going to happen. And then I was like, you know what? And I started to read a book. I don't read that much, but at that I started to immerse into just, I'm just getting, I was reading a book called The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Malian Condura. And I thought that was an interesting book that I was reading at that time.

And I just remember kind of immersing in the plane, reading this book. And then I landed, my mom and Pete, my product manager, how I told you about earlier, they booked me in for the hospital on one day. They were like, let's just book around on Monday. She's telling us something's up. On Sunday, the paper had my, I was on the front page of the national paper for the first time now. We'd had our third number one single. We'd just broken the record.

Album was number one. The UK, we'd just debuted at number two. And I was on a flight that week to head to the States. And then, obviously, that paper ran on Sunday. Monday I was having an interview with Rolling Stone they'd been following me for three months or something and I just I just I was just I just I just remember being lost it and then gone in down the tests was a little overwhelmed with these biopsy needles

going into my neck and all those and thought and I'd gone in by myself just ran into the doctor that they'd booked gone in just in I'd fainted from this huge needle for the going into your neck's tumours was a obviously ended up being a tumour But I saw it on his face as well, and I could see that... I knew. I didn't know the words cancer at all. But did he know? But I did see it in his face.

Yes. He's, again, subsequently still my doctor. And I saw it on his face something. Went back to the studio. And then by the nighttime, there was a knock at the door. My mum walked in. And then my brother walked in. And I said, what's wrong?

And they said, we have to take you to the whole. hospital. And I said, why? Why? And that was the first word, that first time I heard, they think you have cancer. Now, as it's number one on the chart, singles, albums, globally, except for the states. And then my whole world changed. I feel for you at this point, this is hard, you know, your wildest dreams are coming true. Yes. And you get the worst news possible to hear. And I'm quite interested to ask you your understanding of cancer. Because when I was younger, it was like cancer equals death. Death sentence, yeah. Well, yes, at that point, I didn't have much to go off as a positive train of thought. My physical reaction was just shaking.

And I kept a diary. My diary explains that I felt like I was trapped. I was in a corner, like an animal in a corner where you just, there's nowhere to go. You just start shaking and I just remember that. I had to have surgery the next morning, straight into it. They were going to remove the tumours and see what was there. So where were your tumours? In my neck.

Was it just the one or were there a few there? Well, there was quite a mess. and then it had just obviously gone for a little ride around town in the body. But that was where the mass was, which I have my little scar, you know, my warrior wounds that we have, all of us, all of us in our lives. But this is just, you know, this is a long time ago and I'm proud to be healthy and what's come of it. But to dive into it, it was obviously then life is completely different. Then you're with hematologists, oncologists, you have another world. And at that time, so you were trying to deal with that, did you take a hiatus from everything

and just try and get better or were you concurrently doing, you know, a little bit of singing? No. And how much did you tell people? Well, it wasn't really, there was going to be no escaping this moment was. the music had just taken on a life of its own. Right. And I'd been taken in by, especially my home country, and so beautifully here in the UK too.

Different parts of the world. I'd been taken in to their homes. That it was like so insane. It was so basically we had the operation the next day. By the Thursday, people had started to realize from the hospital, somebody had said something or started to kind of get out there. By the Friday, we had to share, because again, we were, you know, we were booked on things. There was, there was major shows coming up. There was, so then news broke, and it was just everywhere.

And the papers were filled with well wishes. And like you'd open the national paper every day. And my journey was a very public journey in it's that I had, people were very much with me. And I really felt that. And I understood quickly that not everyone gets that. And I'm very grateful that people were so connected to giving me strength in that time. you know I went the one thing I went to was like a number one's um sort of all not an awards but it was like a press conference and I remember there's this clip there's this one uh I'd already

sort of started losing my hair a little bit and we chopped it I it was kind of the about the first time I'd sort of spoken after getting a little bit of the swing of what was going to be my world for a minute um and just saying there'd be good times and bad times and and I appreciated, you know, everyone's loving support. And I lived on a cul-de-sac divina where basically people camped. It was camera crews. The whole of the country was sitting outside my door. And so many people sent letters, obviously, before social.

There was a lot of letters. And with the papers being national. I mean, Elton John called me my first day of chemo and wished me luck. Isn't that a beautiful thing? Which is beautiful. Can I say something quite funny? Yes, tell me. David got in touch and said that he and Elton, when I had my operation.

I have no doubt. Are they not lovely people? Yes, it's beautiful. That's an incredibly warm-hearted kind thing to do. Exactly. And you never forget it. No, you never forget people that are kind to you when you are really down. 100%.

So I never have forgotten that people out there in the, in the, the world were very good to me. That's always kept to me having a light of understanding of how good people are out there as well. But I would be sent all these letters and our house was a bit of a mecca. So it became people would drop in. The house looked like it was a florist. There was just so much activity at our family home. It's like a train station. People are knocking, dropping in, journalists are knocking on the door. We were, and I'm just an 18 year old, just now just kind of just working out how to manage all of it. It's crazy.

Just manage just now is health. Was it frightening? Oh my goodness. Of course. The frightening, you know, the normal journey of when you're in the middle of the night worried about like you want to stay awake because you don't want to fall asleep because you're like, am I okay? Just stay awake, just stay awake.

you know, in case anything happens. So you go through all those different, you know, and your arms are sore from all the different treatments and all those kind of things. But this one, like, people, I shared this on my tour, but people just knock on the door to the point where one time this Australian,

he knocks on the door, comes in it with a cake, and he's like, good-day, I thought, maybe my brother knew, I thought somebody came in, he comes in, brings this cake, and it's like, oh, you know, how you're feeling? I'm like, good, good, good. He says, I really love lost without you. I was like, thank you.

Thank you. Then I've realized, do you know him? And mum's like, I'm like, Trent, do you know him? Like, no. My dad, he just flew from Hobart. Kane brought me a cake, ordered me to feel better. He's like, well, I'm leaving in the morning, but I'm just glad everyone's feeling okay in the Goodroom household and I'll be off.

We accidentally let him in. I'd never seen him before in my life. I didn't know who he was. You know what? He's still telling that story now. He left and he was like, I go wishing you well, mate. And I was like, thank you so much. And then we all laughed because I was like, never saw him again.

But just remember, came in with cake. People were just very, the album was still number one for months and months after that. Then the next biggest thing was our ARIA rewards, which was our big night. I had, you know, as the first time I'd ever seen myself bald with no hair and no eye. And it was my big night of collecting very gratefully these beautiful staff. that I had dreamed about all my life. And it wasn't exactly how I imagined it. But what depth and what I had a little blonde wig that I'd gotten made.

And the room was this huge room at the Sydney Superdome. And it was, the electricity was insane. I had a nurse backstage and had my most beautiful pink dress that I had got made by this designer, Lisa Ho. And I felt like a total princess for the night. Wow. That was really special. And the next day, I went back to reality and back to the next stage, which was the radiotherapy chapter.

Right. So how long was your treatment for? Well, the thing was it took a lot longer than, because it's quite, you know, even though these memories come to my mind, I would say that whether it was the kind of year that was a lot can change in a year. I tried to start doing work. My advice would have been maybe to anybody is to really take the time and to never rush back into anything, even though it was correct. Time does change.

But as a jump forward, I mean, for 22 years since that day, I've worked hard at raising, you know, $120 million with that hospital and being able to, you know. Wait. You raised $120 million. for the hospital? Well, since that day, yes, I've worked very hard with them to be able to make sure so something good has come from it. Yeah. That's amazing. You have something good come from it. Oh my God. 120 million? Yes. Yes. Oh, my God. That's incredible. Yes. No, we, well, people were, and at that time,

people were trying to donate as well to the hospital. Yes. And then, because they're so grateful for looking after you. For sure, which was amazing. Which was beautiful. But then obviously I started my foundation, the Delta Gurdrum Foundation. I only started that five years ago, but I worked with St Vincent's. You know, that was obviously meant to be a part of my story. And my story's meant to be different. It's not meant to be the traditional route. So how did you find your way out of it?

Because, you know, we know that you're a grateful person. We know that you're a positive person. You're a hustler. You know, you... But you'd been literally drained. of everything you had to get better. Yep. How did you come back?

I think it was just slow. I think it was a slow. I think I wouldn't say that I came back to myself until many years later. Wow. I think I was in a, I think, and I don't know if you feel this, but I feel it's like a bomb goes off in the house. A lot of shrapnel gets hit. Families impacted.

People's lives change. You know, mom and dad. didn't cope as well with having, you know, so much attention in our regular loving family house, having people project on them or us or, you know, so, you know, a lot, a lot of intensity then happened. And that intensity then came a lot of being lost and life looking different and me trying to get back to where I was, but everything was different. And I wasn't the long-haired piano playing girl. You know, it just was very different after that chapter.

God. I mean, from everything, something comes from everything. Yes, yeah. But I think particularly when you're an artist, you can draw on every experience that you're going through. For sure, for sure. I would like to just sort of talk about the changes that happen because obviously you are you and you are aware, but you're still only 18.

Yes, only 18. This is so young. I think it's one thing to go through a life change. illness when you're older. Yeah. But 18 and trying to process that, but also at the same time with this enormous career and responsibility with that. But also all this stuff that's happening to your family, you know, as an adult, you can think, look, it's not my fault. It's just, but as a child, did you ever carry any of that and think, oh, if it wasn't for me and being famous and

this wouldn't all be happening. I mean, I definitely felt, you know, of course. I felt I felt a responsibility that my family don't choose the arts or that that comes with public life. But I think that, you know, they never lay that on me. But I would, you know, I do I think that like, you know, it was, it's definitely brings a lot of intensity. It was just it.

That chapter so beautiful with what the music was doing. What a magical lightning in a bottle. That's like that doesn't happen and I'm so treasure that that time. And then life kind of steps in and sometimes it has other, it has other plans. You know? So I was doing the best I could. amongst very unique so in senses. Then there was a lot of sort of pressure that this, this and this,

and we're going to do this. And it just wasn't all turning out. It was a very different trajectory. My hair's growing back. I'm trying to, you know, I'm 19 now. You've got a mullet. I've got a mullet. It's the worst haircut in the world.

I've lost all fashion sense. My 2004 and 2005 era of clothes are horrendous. every aspect. And yeah, I think it just all kind of rocked and I got a little bit lost then. But you got back on track. Yes. And more amazing albums. But then I really want to talk about another massive begin again that you had at 34. Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure. Because I've never heard it was like a calcification or something. Yeah, for sure. In your throat. Yep. So I would been doing, I'd been a coach on the voice for like 10 years, so we did Team Delta one a couple times just for the record. So much fun.

Surrounded by music, people's dreams coming true. It was amazing. Great. I was going to come over to the UK. I hadn't been here in years. I thought I'm going to do a riding trip. And I'd no idea what that psychological report has happened here on this. But I basically, from the radiation, the knock-on effect of what had had sort of been around

this area. I've got a very long neck as well, DeVina, DeVina, so it's always causing it. It's beautiful. So elegant. It's got a problem. It's very cheap. It's my voice, my head. But basically it got a calcium, a buildup of calcium.

It's like a little rock like a stone. And I had gone to the, I was about to get on a plane to head back. I was in LA to head back to Sydney. And it basically kind of got infected and blew up. And I got on the plane. Classic Delta. Classic. I'm ill.

Yes, get on the plane. That's a great idea. It's a great idea. And I'd gone to the doctor and he, again, stupidly, he was like, do you want me just to try and get it out now? And I was like, sure, just get it out. Just whatever you have to do, just get it out. And it didn't work. And so then it was obviously open wound on the plane.

I landed. I was ill. I was ill. So sick. And got into hospital, went straight to hospital. and then tried to get the infection down, etc., etc. Realised we had to get the gland removed. It basically kind of died, so to speak.

It was just going to stay as quite a large, sort of round ball, so to speak. So he said, we'll have to remove the saliva wright gland. This is okay. We have the operation. It goes for a very long time. and my family and Matt and everyone sort of just went for a little bit longer than expected came out. They had tried to be quite precise making sure that my tongue and everything was out of the way, obviously with vocals.

But what had happened, my tongue had been maybe clamped or something too strong. And so it had bruised the nerve, which means then the nerve receptors are not talking to the brain. Promial nerve number 12 is not talking to the brain. So when I woke up, again, it was a little bit, one of those things of, I think this is a little longer, sort of had that feeling, but trying not to, it was my birthday. Was it, you? It was June 34. Wow.

I was like, you woke up on your birthday. Well, it didn't wake up, but I was in the hospital that week. It was like my birthday week, and I couldn't speak yet. And we thought, is it swelling? And I was really, I could, you can. You can hear the foliage, I speak very much like it's kind of like a, like you can't hear. Like you can't speak. There's no pronunciation.

And then, obviously, we were walking up and I said to, there's a doctor who took up my tumors as well. And I was like, really? Yeah. And I was there's everything okay? And he was like, I think so. I think so? Maybe not. I was like, okay.

And then we realized it was a nerve damage. And so it was a paralysis. The problem with that is you don't know when that will heal. There's no timeline. Yeah, because nerves can heal for up to 10 years, can't they? Totally. So we didn't know whether this is going to be six months, two months, are you, five years? So the biggest surrender in that was allowing that I don't have control of this at all.

There is no control. I'd love to talk to you about that. Yeah. Because knowing you a little bit from, from, you. learning about your past, I know that you feel that you can kind of control the part, like, where you're going. If you work hard, you are committed, you're professional, you're nice to people, you can get what you need and get where you want to go to. Sometimes you just, but sometimes your hands get ripped off the steering wheel. Yeah, yeah.

But how hard was that for you to realize that you had no control over this whatsoever? Well, I think that it was a really amazing reset. It really was like, you know, even just getting back to that silence and listening rather than talking and just getting that clarity of like, you know, I think I'd started to put those little eyelashes on. I'd started to sort of have my little, I just sort of started getting rid of just anything that wasn't, you know, me as in, you know, just like hair pieces or this or this, I just started to sort of be like, get back to my very natural authentic self.

And that chapter was essential to my life again. That was like a, I can't actually imagine being where I am without that moment that happened. So when you decided to go for the reset, was that a conscious something good has to come out of this? Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. I was like, okay. Obviously it was, the more you fought against something like that, the more stressful that is.

Because when you can't communicate and you're completely in your body and you're going, I can't express myself. and I can't like say like I can't talk I can't man it was the it's like the more you do that the more scary it is the worse it is so you'd have to just slowly just really had to learn how to surrender and I think I had held on to a lot still I think I had sort of been hard on myself and you know so not you know life and sort of crisscrossing and doing all these you know I've had wonderful, amazing chapters. Nothing I would change to be where I am today. But at that time, I was still quite hard on myself.

And I think I had to learn to let go, move on to everything. You mentioned Matt earlier. Yes, yes. How did you meet Matt? Matt came in 2016 or 1516, 16, and just came into play guitar. He was my guitarist. I just like, yes. I was like, I have a hot guitarist.

I was like, oh, he's a very good looking guitarist, isn't he? And he says he was so focused because he was so, like, so excited to do the job. He'd got a call up. He was like, amazing. I'd love to play for Delta. And he was so prepared and focused on learning the songs. I like you. Yeah.

That's what you'd be like. You know what I mean? Yeah. He was like not one total pro. And he genuinely was just himself because he was just loved music, really loves music. And we became best friends first. It was without a doubt friendship first. That's so nice.

Yeah. And how long have you been together now? I mean, we're still confused if it was seven, eight years. Yeah, but that's a long time, isn't it? Yeah. Delta, I'm going to wrap it up there and just say thank you. Thank you so much. I've got goosebumps.

Literally, I'm like, it's been so nice getting to know you. I admire you so much. much and your resilience and your ability to see the good come out of every dark place, the light, find the light and head towards it. May it be a lot of light for both of us and for all watching. Yeah, yeah. I love you. I love you.