Just As Well, The Women's Health Podcast - Leanne Hainsby Gets Real About Traumatic Grief, Cancer, IVF and Health Anxiety

Episode Date: November 11, 2025

Peloton powerhouse. Cancer survivor. Soon-to-be mum. In this deeply emotional episode of Just As Well, Women's Health Editor-in-Chief Claire Sanderson and Gemma Atkinson sit down with Leanne Hainsby for a conversation that’s raw, inspiring, and unforgettable. From dancing on global stages to leading spin classes for thousands, Leanne opens up about the darkest year of her life. Grief, a devastating breast cancer diagnosis, and a miscarriage, while continuing to show up for others. Now, pregnant and thriving, she shares what pulled her through and how she found strength she never knew she had. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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19 plus Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Concerned by your gambling or that if someone close, you call 1866-3-3-1-2-60 or visit comixonterio.ca. Hi, I'm Gem Atkinson. And I'm Claire Sanderson, the editor-in-chief of Women's Health. We've just recorded another episode of Just As Well, with the beautiful Leanne Haynesby. Love to you. And I don't know about Palaton.

Well, I didn't know about Peloton. I do now. Yeah. She, what a woman. What a woman. So I do know about Peloton. I've had a Peloton bike for years since the very beginning of lockdown. I'm very devoted to the platform and the classes, etc.

So that's how I first came across Leanne, just from seeing her on my screen. But I then put her on the cover of women's health in 2023 because she had just come through a breast cancer battle. And I remember at the time being shocked when I saw the picture that she posted on Instagram to announce that she was going through chemo. I remember it vividly. She was in bed and she had the cold cap on and she was a cold cap is something that you can wear to try and red. do hair loss when you're going through chemo and she was hooked up to machines and I remember literally being flabbergasted that this woman whom is a picture of beauty and health on the peloton screen had been going through cancer yeah had been so poorly and his story is one of

tragedy because surely before she was diagnosed her best friend died but ultimately of strength and positivity and how she's she's come through the other end to be the remarkable woman that you met today. Yeah, I was really, this was the first episode that made me tear up. I genuinely, she spoke so openly about her breast cancer diagnosis, like you say, her best friend passing away, her miscarriage, the fact that she carried on with Peloton, how her and Ben got together through Peloton, through the love of exercise, her experience as a dancer again, which I didn't know anything about, and how she's looking.

forward to the future with a pregnancy and she's no longer poorly. It's just she's beautiful. Even if you don't do Peloton, it's a really, it's a worthwhile listen, isn't it? It's just an amazing, inspiring story of what one woman has been

through, the hardships and tragedy and the resolve that she pulled upon and the mental strength that she said she had to create and go to when the going got tough to survive the really, really difficult journey that she's had to experience. Very inspirational lady. We hope you enjoy this episode. You can maybe listen to it on your Peloton.

Why not? Welcome back to another episode of Just as Well. Now, today's guest, if you're a fan of Peloton, you'll be very, very excited. We have the one and only, Leanne Haynesby. She is Peloton royalty, and she's a women's health advocate and wellness entrepreneur. She's a professional dancer as well and she was Pelisson's first UK female instructor and she's now one of the most popular instructors globally. A former women's health cover star,

she bravely spoke recently about her breast cancer battle two years ago and honestly, you've helped so many people talking about that. It's brilliant. She also ran the London Marathon raising money for breast cancer charities and she raised more than 50,000 pound, making her the third highest fundraiser for the marathon. I mean, that in itself is incredible. Thank you so much for being here.

Thanks for having me. It's a real honour. I know you're... Oh, super excited. I'm a long-time Peloton fan, which Leanne knows. I do know. I've had the bike since before lockdown, and I've been to quite a few of your live classes.

You're very good on the bike, Claire. Oh, well, you know, I try. But you have amazing studios in Common Garden, which is near where we're recording today. And having that live experience, I do feel very lucky to have been there. We've done the take that ride, I think. Yeah.

We did a pop ride recently. Yeah, the pop ride was super fun. So I love doing them then on the bike and trying to spot people I know. So I'm really new to Peloton. I know what the Peloton bike is, but I've not done any of the classes. So you'll say now the take that, the pop,

I'm assuming that's the music and style. Can you explain what it is for people who aren't aware? Yeah, so for people that don't know what Peloton is, it's connected fitness, basically. So I am the instructor on the screen. So basically you'll have the bike, and then there's a screen, and we will either record content on our own in the studio

or with members in the studio with us, and then that content is streamed. globally, either to a live schedule or an on-demand schedule. So there's over 6 million members. You can have thousands of people doing a workout at the same time. People are in different time zones, have people on the leaderboard from all over America, Australia, Hawaii, London, Canada, all at the same time. And they're having the same fitness experience.

But what's really cool is that we partner with different artists and bands and so when Claire was talking about, like, the take that ride, it's all the music you love from a particular artist. I've just recently done a BG's ride. So we went back a bit to the 70s, but it's all the music you love, like back to back, and it just steps the work out up a bit. It's just a bit...

It makes it more fun. It makes it more fun. It's just, like, nostalgic with the music and the memories and really just gives people, like, a bit... Everyone will always say it's the bike that goes no... but goes everywhere. And I think the music and those elements of it just really separate it from a standard fitness class. Yeah. And it's like for those who have a, I mean, I've got a stationary bike at home, it's not a peloton, but it is hard sometimes to get into the motivation aspect and get

going and know when to, you know, turn it up a bit and sit down, stand up. So if you have the trainer on the screen, like you say, it's a PT in your living room. Yeah. And also when people are time poor or they've got busy lives, that time of like traveling to a gym or traveling to a boutique studio and taking a class and trying to have that feeling of the motivation and someone telling them what to do, there's not always the time for that. Or people aren't always confident to do that in a studio.

So bringing it into people's homes has just changed the game, I think. For me, Peloton, because there's all different classes on there, isn't there? There's strength and polite. and I do a lot of the strength classes. But if there's a day where I really know I can't be bothered and if I start lifting weights I will just stop, I do a Peloton ride class because once you're on that bike and the music and I love the 80s rides or the ADM rides I like.

I love the 80s rides if you don't want to really push yourself or you want to move your body and have a bit of a laugh and I'm there dancing along, singing. It's fun and it's fitness and it can boost your mood and that's. just as important as lifting a weight to have 30 minutes where you know mentally you feel better after or lighter or just have a bit more joy

in your day like that's the magic of it that's I think what we as coaches try and give to the members every day I am trying to try it genuinely well you can come in to the studio and ever you want I'd love to have you in yeah good because I'm not really oh I hate running and I'm not a really great cyclist

in terms of I was telling Claire I had my first experience last night on a line bike in London and I didn't realise that it's not just pedal it's a bit electric and I set off and a bus went past

and someone stepped out in the road I was like no I'm done get me off but now as I've got older so the idea of stationary bike with an instructor with 80s music I'm all for

yeah I like it good time next time you don't to record these I'll like Leanne can hit us up but you're true Is it true, you started as a dancer, though, when you were really young? Yeah. That's your background.

Yeah, I started dancing at three. Wow. And my sister had been, my sister always danced, and then she went on to become a professional dancer. My mum had danced when she was younger. And so, for me, it was just a given. Like, I was always going to go into dancing. And I would say by the time I got to about eight, it was, like, pretty, serious for me it was more than just like a hobby after school my sister at that point had gone to

perform in arts college i already felt like that's something that i wanted to do i was doing dance competitions at the weekends i was going to dance in like every night after school and then all day on a saturday and i just was taking it seriously from that young age and then i actually did a three-year course at the Royal Ballet as a junior associate which actually ballet wasn't really my thing I just auditioned because

it was you know it would have been a really cool thing to be part of and so I auditioned and then I got it and I wasn't sure that ballet was the direction I wanted to go in and at the end of the three-year course

one my body said you're not going to be a ballerina and two, it just wasn't for me. I wanted to go into the commercial side, the pop stuff. And so I danced all throughout my teenage years as well. And then as soon as I could leave school at 16, I went to perform in arts college and then three years there and then into just over an 11-year career as a professional dancer before Peloton.

So you've always had that activity as in, you've always been sporty, active. You've always taken care of yourself through something you love doing. Yeah, love you. after sports. My dad always had me out on the bike or I'd always be on the monkey bars in the park and I just was super, super active as a kid and then was doing my dancing and was loving it and I don't really remember a life not knowing, well I just don't really remember a life with it not being all about finishing school, quickly putting my hair in a bun and going to

dancing and that being like my happy place and you ended up dancing for taylor swift carly minogue yeah i had a really i think in hindsight i big my dance career up more because i really looking back i'm like i did some incredible things but when you're in it you're trying to pay your bills you're going from job to job you are always chasing the next thing you you know if you get to a place where you're doing really well as a dancer, it's always about the next gig. And so when I was in it, I was having some amazing experiences. I'd do a lot of Saturday night TV shows and back in dancing and I tour a lot with artists. But I was in it and I was super present and loving it as I went through the years of dancing professionally. But I think it's only

when you step away and you look back that you're like, wow, some of these moments were like absolutely incredible. Like for example, we went to watch cold play, me and my husband, last week and I danced for Coldplay at the Paralympic closing ceremonies in London back in 2012. And at the time, that was just like one gig in the summer. But then listening to the music again and feeling nostalgic and remembering those moments, it's like there's been some really cool things that I've done along the way and it was all I ever wanted to do and I feel really grateful that by the time I moved into Peloton I had ticked off the majority of the things that I had wanted to do as a dancer apart from Spice Girls which then you love Spice Girls I love Spice Girls

and then I went to I joined Peloton and a year later Spice Girls went on tour and I was like oh no missed opportunity but a lot of my friends did it so I got to go and support and and love it through their eyes. So, yeah, I did some really cool things in my dance career that I will always hold, like, so close to my heart. You get used to living out of a suitcase as well as a dancer. My fellow's, he tours a lot, and he's... He'll totally get it, the suitcase life.

He packs for our holidays, because he's like, I'm the best... Does he like it, living out the suitcase? Because I weirdly used to really like it, because I was like, my, the way my brain was, so I don't ever know what I want to wear and it always takes me so long and when you're living out of a suitcase it's like well I've only got that

this is what you have and he's very efficient at like I'll just throw anything in and it's like a big mound and it can mash suitcase and never shut he'll do everything neat he has sections he packing cubes all that jazz he just he does it like that brilliant I love that's from his dance background

so when you were asked to join Peloton obviously it's a massive massive deal you know the UK's first female instructor was it an instant yes or how did you even get scouted for it how did that come about so at the time I was still dancing and I was on tour with a 90s band called steps and and I was teaching spin classes at a boutique studio in London at this point I was kind of like just getting into my 30s I was in a really bad relationship I kind of lost the

love for dancing for no other reason really than I've done everything that I wanted to do. The money felt like it was getting less and less. I was always away and missing birthdays and weddings and I was just like just losing the love for it a little bit. And so I really found passion in some of these boutique classes that I started going to, loved them and then started teaching and one of the US instructors Cody Rigsby just turned up at one of my classes I'd had a really like I'd been out the night before wasn't feeling my most fresh but I just remembered seeing him and thinking he feels like he's someone I'm gonna do a really good class and then he stopped me after and said you know can we

grab a coffee and I couldn't I was I was going off to teach another class And then he flew back to New York, and I just felt like it, I didn't really think about it, to be honest. And then another one of the US instructors reached out to me on Instagram, basically saying that they'd like me to fly to New York and an audition for Peloton. And at the time, I didn't know what Peloton was because it wasn't a thing here. And the only thing I knew about Spin was SoulCycle in the US. And so I was a bit dubious, but I thought, Well, I've actually got a few days off of the tour. I could fly out secretly, really quickly, audition, fly back.

And so I did. And the audition went really well. I loved it. I loved everyone there. And then, you know, a few more parts of the process. And I was offered the role as the first female UK instructor. And it just, like, timing-wise, it just worked. out really well I hadn't been feeling that happy in my dance career I was quite

happy to wrap up and on steps being my last dance job we I was moving to New York for three months to then train for Peloton it just felt like right time the right time and it was it was a lot of a lot of hard work like Peloton was already flying in New York and we had a lot to learn and it felt like quite a big weight to kind of bring that back to the UK and try and make it a success back here, but also like equally so exciting and a new chapter that I was like desperately wanting to go into. So timing wise, that's one of those things that I feel like I really welcomed that in. I'd been saying to my parents, I didn't want to dance anymore and they were like,

okay, what are you going to do next? No, like not pressure, not pressuring me, but just like, I was excited like, okay, what would be next? What are the transferable skills? And I really didn't know. I just felt really confident that something was going to come to me that I didn't know what it was, but I just felt like something would. So the Peloton thing for me was like the perfect thing at the perfect time. So it wasn't in the UK?

You have launched it in the UK. Yeah. It was in New York. Yeah. It had been going in New York for a few years. It was super, super successful, especially in Manhattan, and we were launching it. And I say we, me and Ben, being the other UK instructor, who is now my husband. And we brought it back to the UK with a really, really small team and started to build Peloton up.

And we launched it in the UK in late 2018. And we spent about a year explaining to anyone who had listened to us, Peloton is the bike with the screen, and this is what it is. and just trying desperately to, you know, make it a success and grow it from the ground up, which was something I'd actually never experienced in my career. I always fitted in to, you know, a dance job or I was dancing behind the artist or you'd come in at the last minute.

And so to be part of something that we were building here from scratch was invaluable, really. And you were at, like, your hobby were at the fore. of it and it wouldn't have been the case but I guess in your mind you're thinking if this fails in the UK we're the faces of it so it's a lot of pressure because either way it could have would have been behind the scenes that the big guys in New York running it and helping you but if people recognize your faces if it failed you know it would have been on you so it's a huge pressure and I mean it's a huge success everyone you know raves about it

now who does it but was there was the pressure as well in the beginning it didn't actually feel like there was much pressure because it was so fun and it was kind of scrappy we were just doing our best and just seeing what would land and we were working from I do remember one of the guys that helped to train me back in New York was like we're getting you a central London location and it's going to be so fab and then we ended up way out east in Bromley by Bow and we had a really cool little space but it was like this is not central London and we were doing, we basically built a makeshift studio within a warehouse and it was just really thrown together and we were just giving it a really, really good go with a really small team

that were just equally as excited about the opportunity as we were and it really was when we got to the pandemic that the pressure stepped up because that's when Peloton you know really really took off in the UK and that's when the pressure started because it was like oh wow there's now we were excited if there were 100 people on the leaderboard and now there's 10,000 for a class and that was a really fast jump when life was really uncertain for everyone

so that's when the pressure kicked in it was a good pressure but it was still a big shock yeah Because I first got my bike at the very beginning of the pandemic. I think it had been ordered before, but then it was delayed because, you know, none of us could go out. And I remember it being delivered at a point where things could be delivered, but the delivery men had masks on and they have to have the windows open and you weren't allowed to go within 10 feet of them and all this. So my first classes were when all the instructors were at home. Yeah.

And you and Ben were living together and been known. to the Peloton audience but that's how it first came to like that you were a couple because people clocked that even though you were trying to change the shelf in the background people clocked that there was a similar background going on here that is always so funny and something that people ask me and Ben about all the time

so Ben and I had been a couple for about a year or so before that and we'd kept it quiet because it really didn't have anything to do were trying to launch Peloton and wanting it to be a success. And we just wanted to figure out, you know, if we wanted to be in the relationship before we, you know, before we shared it. And then we got to lockdown and, like Claire said,

we were teaching these classes from home. And we had a full studio set up. I mean, it was really funny because we'd be teaching a live class. There'd be like 10,000 people on the leaderboard. and Ben would be crawling along the floor making sure all the wires were right, the connection was right, that I was still live,

that everything was going well and we'd be so nervous because at the time everyone was having 100 Amazon deliveries a day so I thought the doorbell was going to go and it was chaos but we, the way the studio was set up we just had one corner and for us

we wanted to display our personalities in that corner so we changed the shelves about but I guess outwardly it looked like we were trying to pretend we weren't in the same room so I think the Peloton members took a lot of enjoyment kind of sussing out that this was in fact the same room and we weren't falling anyone but yeah that's when it was that was a really interesting time given up our spare room to be a Pelotan studio remember you telling me it was a really small flat Yeah, Ben and I moved in quite quickly after we started dating and we decided to get,

we were living in a really small apartment in Holben that lacked any personality, but we thought if this doesn't work out, we've got a small two-bed apartment, one of us can move out, the other one can get a friend to move in, but it didn't like scream love or next chapter or anything like that. And so when we went into lockdown and then we gave up one of our rooms, to be the studio, we then had everything else in the hallway, and it was no outside space. It was quite intense. We were like, when can we go back to the studio, please? Oh, and at a time as well, when you couldn't even really go out other than to walk and stuff.

We would open one window in our kitchen that overlooked an office block and just like dangle out of that to try and get like a bit of fresh air. But it was definitely a time, but we were grateful when that chapter closed. for sure. And it's so nice now that you've obviously both got the same interests and it's so nice now that you've got each other throughout your career as well because a lot of the time people say oh you shouldn't work with your partner it's too much but I think in your line of work because you're doing something that makes you both individually feel good with the endorphins and the sweating I guess there's none of that it's just fun. Yeah it's it's definitely I think

because when I haven't ever really known this role without it being connected to being in a relationship with Ben we met at the beginning in New York we built a really gorgeous friendship when we came back to London we decided to give it a go and so the two have always been super entwined and it's that we've got really similar values we have the same goals and the same purpose when it comes to the Peloton members and the way we coach and teach our classes, although they're very different and we're very different instructors, the big goal is still the same. And so it's a bit of a strange job to have. So I, you know, it's, it works really well for us that we're in it together. And yeah, we do have a lot of fun. We're seven years into it and we still really, really love it. I get

excited about certain class plans and meeting the members and the growth of the business still. So it's to feel like that seven years in is, I like that feeling. Because Leanne, we've known each other for several years now since your woman's health cover. I know. And I would describe you as one of the most positive, sparkly people I know. The Leanne Haynesby on screen on those rides is the Leanne Haynesby of real life. It's not an act, it's just how you are. That's so nice.

Thank you. I appreciate that. And I saw firsthand just how popular you are last year when we went to Cannes together. Do you remember? and you brought Robin-R-a-We had a great time. We did, we did, although I didn't party quite as much as you. But you brought Robin Ars on, who people will know is a very famous, one of the founders, isn't the year of Peloton and Ali Love?

And you literally caused a stampede. People were so excited that you three were in the room. And it's when it really hit home just how popular you guys are. So you seem to have the perfect life, but you have had struggles. And one of the reasons, not one of the, the reasons but just before you were on your woman's health cover you you had a you'd been through breast cancer yeah and you had a really challenging time your breast friend passed away you'd had a miscarriage and then weeks later you were

diagnosed with breast cancer yeah I I loved that cover by the way that cover for me was like a real kind of step forward from a really dark chapter and it was so spot all the disco balls that I had it was just it was so perfect and really was one of the first times that I felt like me again. But that chapter before the cover shoot was 2022, which was just a really tough year for me. And within six months, I'd had a miscarriage. My best friend had died really suddenly.

And, yeah, less than a month later, I'd been diagnosed with breast cancer. And it was just like one thing after a night. other. Really, really tough. Definitely felt like I was at rock bottom and it's hard to kind of process one of those traumas when you're on to the next one and then trying to process that. And my treatment plan for the breast cancer diagnosis that I had was quite long. It's like two years of treatment and that looked like three months of chemo and then surgery and then radiotherapy and then on to maintenance drugs and I was doing all of that whilst trying to

kind of get through I guess or process a traumatic grief which is different to just your regular grief and it really was I learned a lot from that year and I think I am who I am today because of that year. Everything I've done from 2020 22 onwards is shaped by those experiences and everything I do is to honour Danielle. But that was, I think up until that point, life had been like on the up. You know, I'd had this amazing job. I'd met Ben. We were engaged.

We'd moved into a new home. We were just like, life felt really, really perfect. and we wanted to start a family and then it just felt like it all started like crumbling one by one and I think being a few years on from that time now it's I don't actually know how I got through that year but at the time and it wasn't just that year

it was you know it's been every year since because there's always things to think about and things that come up and first and health anxiety, once you've been through cancer treatment, like there's so much involved in just milestones that happen. But I think at the time I just, I remember having a cancer nurse who said to me very, very early on, like literally just after I'd been diagnosed, which is a terrifying moment when you're in a small room with a consultant

who is confirming that, you know, you have breast cancer. And I was in the room with my mom and Ben, and it was really, really tough. And I had a cancer nurse who said to me, your body will go through whatever it needs to go through. But considering what you've just been through before this and what you're about to go through, this is going to be a mental game for you.

So you need to focus on keeping up here as strong as you can. And I just remembered thinking, okay that is something I can do and so that's how kind of from that moment onwards that's how I showed up to the rest of that year and that's how I've continued to show up since and did you you continued Peloton through this yeah I did and I did sometimes I it's really hard because I, that was, I took some time off after the miscarriage and not long after my best friend died and I took some time off then, but it was like I needed some routine. I was at that place where I needed some focus, I needed some routine. And I thought when it came to

my Peloton classes, I wasn't sure whether I would lose my hair or not. I used, something called a cold cap, so I was able to keep half of my hair, I lost half of my hair, but I was able to kind of, I think if you look back to some of the classes now, it was definitely clear that I was poorly, but it was gradual and I think people were just, you know, I'd already, I hadn't shared, I've only recently shared about the miscarriage, but I had shared about losing Danielle, and so I think people, you know, were just giving me grace, no one was saying anything, even though I was looking unwell if I look back at pictures now or class content. But teaching the classes was really, really important to me because it gave me a space

where I wasn't a cancer patient. It gave me an hour in the day where I could be sparkly, where I could focus on other people, I could bring joy to other people, I could be myself and not someone who was, you know, really feeling very down after losing their best friend and going through cancer treatment. And so for me, it was less about trying to be a hero and continue life as completely normal and more about a bit of a survival instinct, really, which was just to hold on to as much of me as I possibly could. And I always give that advice to anyone who's going through cancer treatment now like always find the moments that you can be yourself because that's otherwise you could it's so easy to lose yourself because cancer can become a full-time

job you're it's the medication it's going into the hospital it's the consultants for me it's the oncologist as well it's all of those things and so having a space where it was just me in a studio or me with members just being able to have some fun was really, really vital. And then when I got to the end of my chemo, I knew that the chemo had worked. So I knew that we were looking at a cure as opposed to just ongoing treatment. I felt confident enough to share publicly then that I'd been going through chemo and I was on a journey with breast cancer. But I think for me, one of the big things is that I've learned along the way is that I, like you have to share.

when you're ready and that's been a rule of thumb for me I think over the last few years like I don't share things in real time I wait till maybe the moment's passed I've processed I've processed it in a way that I feel good within my emotions and my energy before I let anyone else in otherwise it's just all too consuming so this was just a way this was just something I learnt going through that part of the journey that made me feel kind of safe within my own bubble but also I then when I was ready to share I was ready to then try and help other women or other people in whatever way I could but I just needed to know first that I would be okay it's so admirable honestly like listen to you like I can't imagine going through

just one of those things and the fact that you had literally all three in a year and the fact that you speak so openly about it I mean it's really really I had a lot of therapy no but honestly like because in just one chat with us now you're helping three different groups of people

those that have currently miscarried or lost someone close to them or are dealing with treatment so yeah it's really admirable it's made me teary eye genuinely you really are recovering from cancer it's the long game isn't it? Did you make lifestyle changes to

expedite the process or maybe future proof yourself for longevity, etc? I made, do you know what I was really to say grateful is probably the wrong word but to have an opportunity where the only option was to have a lifestyle overhaul I was grateful for because you know the the month after daniel died before i went into my treatment there was it was very very dark and you know just be with my friends and we'd be eating rubbish food and we'd be drinking

and there was no real like routine or anything we were just sad and shocked and there was a lot of trauma and so when it came to being diagnosed and then going through my treatment it was like I don't want to live like that I want to change everything I stopped drinking which actually was something that I had wanted to do anyway I didn't have a problem with drinking I just I didn't think it was doing me any good I didn't think I was the best version of myself I didn't feel like I was as productive and this was before Danielle this was just kind of how I was feeling and I had been pregnant and I had not I had that experience of not drinking for nearly three months and I had liked that version of myself and so I had wanted to get back to that and I think the thing for me that

lifestyle overhaul so I worked with a nutritionist when I went into my cancer journey and and she specialised in young women going through breast cancer. So she was so specific to my needs and to be fueling myself in the right way for different parts. And the way I fueled myself looked different from chemo to surgery to radiotherapy, heavy focus on reducing information in the body and just really trying to get as many nutrients as I could through colour and variation on the plate.

But not drinking, moving my body, doing things that made me feel like me, really focusing on rest, drowning out any outside noise, walking a lot and just having therapy and the nutritionist. It sounds like a lot, but those were the things at the time that were like dragging me out of a dark hole and putting me on a path that was able to tackle the kind of onslaught of things that were happening in 2022. And I ended up feeling like as kind of healthy as I could going through my cancer treatment. And I really think that's to do with how I was showing up for myself.

And so that's just kind of how I've continued to lead my life since. I now know what it feels like to be at rock bottom and to feel completely rubbish and void of any energy and losing muscle mass and having chemo drugs in your body and recovering from surgery and having mobility issues after because of the surgery and radiotherapy will do that as well. And so the focus on feeling as good as I possibly could, that I could control and I really, you know that to me was also part of the mental part of it the mental game these were things i could control i couldn't control all of the cancer drugs and how they were making me feel but i could control how i supported my body and so that's just something that i still to this day is like a huge passion of mine because i want to continue feeling as good as i possibly can it's kind of a nice like addictive feeling to just feel as good as you deserve to feel.

It's like they always say, don't they? Food is medicine. Yeah. You know, when you, with each meal you think to yourself, is this going to fuel me or is this going to like mess with me when it comes to your plate? And it's a mindset shift. So you can think in two very different ways. You can feel like you're being deprived because you can't have a burger and chips and pizza every night or you can feel like you're empowering yourself and supporting your body because you're

choosing a different option. It's just how you look at it and for me it was like well it really was very black and white. It's like I don't want to die so I'm going to support my body as best I can and that kind of when you're when that's your choice the food choices and the way you support yourself becomes a lot easier. Yeah. It makes such a It makes such a difference. It makes such a difference. Your energy. And clearly it did with you because you run the London Marathon.

Yeah. What was that? I did. I ran the London Marathon a year after my, I was still on my maintenance treatment. So a drug called tomoxophen which a lot of people going through breast cancer will be aware of. And when I was going through my treatment, I really had like so many epiphanies and I was just thinking about so much and I'd always told myself I couldn't run. And when I was young, I was young. When I was younger, I loved running.

When I was at school, I would always run the 200 meters. That was my race. And I'd always win it. And I was like, I love running. And then I kind of stopped running as a teenager and into my 20s. And then when I joined Peloton, there was some serious runners there. And I think I just lost my confidence with it even more. So when I was going through my treatment, it was all about, like,

what are the limits that I've been putting on myself that I want to start removing when I get through this and running was one of them and so I thought I'm going to run the London marathon because I've always lived in London and I've always been to support the marathon and I've always thought everyone that's done it has been amazing I just didn't ever feel like I had enough of a reason or a big enough cause for me to want to run that distance yeah but I thought this was my this was my time to do it so um yeah I gave it a go it wasn't easy and um i think i'm one and done but i did it in the same yeah Claire did it the same year would you do it again nope would you do it again i i say i always say no but i think i would

i think i would maybe do it again in a few years we ben and i ben ran it as well we started off i was like please run it with me he ran like the first 10 steps with me and then he was off And I remember seeing my nephew, like, halfway around the course. And he was like, Ben finished an hour ago. And I was like, great. Thanks for that. I've got like another two hours to go, yeah. I've got another two hours.

But we ran for a charity called Breast Cancer Now. We raised a ton of money. And that was a really amazing moment. And when I did share my story about going through cancer, I really wanted to give back. I wasn't sharing to be a victim. I wasn't sharing to just be like, poor me. I was sharing because I was like, this is why I'm sharing. I want to give back.

I want to raise awareness. And this felt like one of those moments where I could do that. And so for me, it wasn't about the time. It was about enjoying the moment. It was about running again. It was about removing that limit. And I really enjoyed it. I would like to do it again and maybe just get my head down

and just like, you know, not just do it for myself, but I felt very, very proud of the moment. And when I saw the finish line, I was like, thank you. And it is the longest 200 meters, isn't it, when you're coming down the mall? And you're like, why is that not getting any closer? It doesn't get closer. And everyone's like, yeah, you've got to sprint that last bit. Yeah, no.

No, I'm not sprinting. And that's where there's not spectators, isn't there as well? So you feel like, I mean, the furthest I've run is a 10K and that was horrendous. but I remember the end of the 10K everyone's cheering so you think if I walk now I'm going to look ridiculous so I can imagine after a marathon it's even more intense awful I remember

when they put the medal over your head and those people even though they've done it thousands of times they treat you like it's the first time and I'm clear you've done it did you cry then and I was like just give me the medal I was beyond

humour in anyone being fun I just wanted that medal I wanted to be out of there Yeah, it's really tough. I can imagine you actually, kicking off with everyone. Yeah, it is tough, but there is nothing like it. Like, even when I go and support the London Marathon every year, and I'm like screaming on the sidelines, I'm always crying.

I feel like people of all different ages, genders, life experiences come together. And it's like, yes, you have the elite runners that it's just like. A jog for them, isn't it? Yeah. But then you get to the people. that are like, you know, they have, everyone has a reason to run. It's one of those days, I think, where you realise that everyone has something in life that they're going through or have gone through. And this is a way of like, you know, keeping a memory alive or raising money.

And I just think that's a really magic thing to be part of. It is a bit demoralising, though, when people in like massive rhino costumes take over you. I knew, I knew you were going to tell about the rhino. The rhino overtook me twice I just say it can't have been the same guy Because they kept on overtaking me I was like how was a rhino overtaking me Not once but twice

I know and then people like So there was one bloke who was in army fatigues Carrying what looked like a really heavy rucksack on his back And he was like almost bent double But taking over me And it's like how is that possible I know it's really like It's inspiring and it's wild

And you're exhausted You're looking around and you're like Am I really seeing that? Yeah. But yeah, it's a great experience. And I'm so pleased that I've done it. And hopefully the money that we raised is going to, you know, make a big difference. And that was the point of it.

But I don't think I'm rushing to do another one soon. Well, and there might be another reason why you can't do a marathon soon because you're having a baby. I'm having a baby. Congratulations. Thank you. I was so, so thrilled when I heard it was like a close relative had told me. Oh, thank you. but it was such, such beautiful news

because I know it wasn't the easiest journey to get there and you had to go through the process with your eggs through your cancer treatment, etc. So, you know, I'd mentioned about the miscarriage back in 2022 and at that point, Ben and I were really like, we were so ready to start a family and it didn't work out. And then when I was diagnosed,

I was given, like, two ways. weeks before I started my chemo to kind of rush through and do some IVF and egg retrieval and my body was, I mean, I just had a ton of trauma so my body wasn't in the right place. I was at the wrong part of my cycle. My cancer was a hormone-driven cancer, but to do the IVF, I needed to drive my hormones up. So there was just a lot that was going on. but we were so lucky and grateful that the opportunity was given to us

to be able to squeeze that in before treatment because that became the ultimate focus. Like we had a few embryos frozen that were good quality, felt so grateful that we got anything because my body was just like at rock bottom. And throughout my treatment and throughout the kind of two years where I was actually put into a medically induced menopause as part of my treatment. That was to protect my fertility.

But, you know, anyone that's been through menopausal symptoms will know it's no joke. So it's like, I mean, I've been pushed into that stage of life and then kind of medically brought out of that. And I found that really tough as I was already told I was young to be going through breast cancer. and I'm put into a medically induced menopause, and then I'm young for that, and it was a lot. So to be able to be, but the thing is, I just kept going because I was like, the focus here is preserving my fertility as best I can

and picking up this journey when my treatment is done. And so when we got to the beginning of 2025, and we were able to pick up the IVF and, like, the kind of process of coming off of my main, drugs and then picking up my IVF drugs was quite a shock on my body and um but again something I kind of like slowly started switching from my cancer nutritionist to a fertility nutritionist so I felt really supported but still hormonally and emotionally it was like a big shift because my cancer drugs had kept my hormones super low and the IVF drugs were ramping them up so I was

like whoa um but it you know the IVF worked and I'm now six months pregnant we've got a baby coming at the end of the year and it's just like it's a beautiful time and we waited a really long time and I think there's definitely been moments where you know we've watched people around us close friends colleagues people that you kind of know from the TV or having babies, growing their families, doing all of these things, that it felt like Ben and I couldn't do. But now that it's our time, none of that really matters. It's just like we're back on a track that we wanted to be on

and it feels really good. It's so exciting, isn't it? Yeah, it's just, and you look lovely. You're like glowing. I had the pregnancy sweat. You've got the pregnancy glow. You've really are. I feel like I'm like stretching by the second,

but I'm just really, like, going with it. I'm just so grateful that I'm just, you know, I didn't know whether this would happen, and I felt so focused the last few years, hoping that it would, that now I'm just like, you know, I'm just absorbing it all and trying to, there's still like the health anxiety and things like, that like anyone that's been through a cancer journey or anyone that's been through anything hard

actually in life the the kind of journey to trust in your body again is a forever journey and now that I'm thinking of myself and a baby it's like that can rear its head sometimes but I'm just confident that I'm in a healthy body confident everything's going well and yeah Christmas will be very special well thank you so much for Thank you for having me. Honestly, it's been lovely. And we wish you the best of luck with everything we've been forward. Before you go, we do have, Claire loves these.

We have some quick-fire questions that we ask all our guests. Okay. Hit me with them. That you have to answer. Right. So, Jamie and I are coming to yours and Ben's down in South West London for dinner. Okay. What are you going to cook for us? So Ben would do the main.

Yeah. And he, do you know what we love? Just like a really. kind of simple dinner. Sorry, I'm sorry about it, quick fire things, but we would do like a gorgeous bit of fish with some lovely potatoes, really nice salad, super fresh, super clean, but really, really tasty.

And then for dessert, this is my new obsession at the moment, it's, bear with me here, because this sounds really weird, but it really works. It's vanilla ice cream with, like, caramelized bananas and dates, but you just basically heat them up with some cinnamon and butter, And then you put that on top of the ice cream. Then you pour olive oil on top and some sea salt. It is absolutely amazing.

It sounds bonkers. It really works. Where did you get the idea for that? I saw it on Instagram. And then I've made it for a few friends that have come over for dinner. And Ben has been in the kitchen for hours doing the main. I do two-minute dessert and it's the crowd-pleaser. So that's what you'd be having.

Might have to give it a bash. What was the last thing that made you belly laugh? Oh, the last thing that made me belly laugh, I actually think it was something I'd seen on Instagram. So I'm in my nesting stage at the moment and I thought that was like when you just folded all the baby grows and everything looked really lovely. And actually I am like knee deep in the cupboards trying to deep clean everything. I'm trying to declutter. I'm trying to get everything out of the house. And Ben showed me a video of a new dad showing him.

his baby round a pristine house and all the cupboards when it's first born, basically showing this baby what the mum needed to do to prepare for the arrival. And it was just so on the money of like where we are at at the moment. And it really made me belly laugh because I was like, yeah, this is ridiculous. But I can't stop. So you're going to a desert island for 12 months and you can only take one thing. What is it? Oh God, I hate that I hate that I want to say my phone Because that's so ridiculous I would take

This is really random But like I'm going to take a skipping rope And I know that's really, really random But it's going to keep me moving I feel like I could use it for lots of different things And the busier life gets As much as my first instinct is to say the phone Actually to have 12 months without it

How amazing would that be. You know when you're on the, I'll be on the way home now, and I'd be like, why did I say a skipping rope? But I feel like that could help me out. I need to watch more like Bear Grills and S-A-S, and then I could have a really smart answer, but I feel like... We've had a lot.

We've had skipping ropes. Have you? We've had a football. Football is quite a good one. Kindle. I've had a Kindle. Mozy spray. A book.

Yeah. I said the dog, which is quite bad because I've got two kids, but I said the dog. Do you know what? I would take my... dog as well and a skipping rope yeah I'm an overpacker I couldn't just take one thing but you know you can choose one type of exercise to do forever more what is it strength training anything with dumbbells they don't have to be heavy but

that's that's what I'm doing that is the key to longevity lifting weight good answer coffee or wine coffee I'm missing coffee at the moment yeah I can leave wine but um yeah i coffee for sure when you give birth you'd be sending ben out for a gallon of coffee yeah yeah toastie and a coffee yeah yeah i had um yeah a strong coffee and one of a big filthy chocolate brownie oh delicious delicious yeah you need to think about that first yeah yeah the first apart from the toast you'll get a toast in the hospital that's what they give you it's nice of toast isn't it i know everyone says that yeah toast with jam and a cup of tea Okay, cup of tea and a gallon of coffee.

What's one thing someone listening today could do to make themselves feel just that little bit better? Oh, I love that. Stop comparing yourself to other people. You know, that quote, comparison is the thief of joy. I recently wrote about this in my newsletter and a lot of women really resonated with it. I think we, due to the pressures of social media and life in general, it's so easy to forget what's going on in your life and how amazing your life is in all of the small little ways or just how unique your life is to you because we're constantly being shown other ways to be and you can lose sight of the really beautiful things in your life. So I think that's a nice little tip for all of us. How could people get a hold of your newsletter?

So it's called the Leanne Weekly. If you go onto my Instagram, Leanne Haynesby, it's within my bio. And I've just started it and I'm loving it. I've got an amazing subscriber list. And it's really building a gorgeous community of women. I love to write. I feel like I speak a lot in my job. And writing is a passion of mine.

And I think it's, and so far I know it's a really gorgeous way of bringing women together and making them feel less alone and relating on different topics wherever we are in life, there's always something we can relate on and so I'm really enjoying it and I think it's a really safe, healthy, knowledgeable space for women to find.

Lovely. Well, thank you so much. Thanks for joining us and yeah, good luck with everything. Thanks so much. Thank you. Yay!