Sort Your Life Out star Dilly Carter has opened up about her mother's mental health struggles and her own cancer diagnosis. The professional organiser, who appears on the BBC show with Stacey Solomon, shared her story on ITV's Lorraine.
Carter revealed that her passion for decluttering stemmed from growing up in a chaotic household. Her mother was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and was sectioned multiple times during Carter's childhood. 'My room was always immaculate, it was my little sanctuary - but the rest of the house was chaos,' she said.
After her father's death, Carter transformed her mother's home in a weekend and realised she could turn her organising skills into a business. She later underwent surgery for uterine fibroids, which led to a diagnosis of womb cancer. She had a hysterectomy and further surgery to remove lymph nodes.
During her cancer treatment, Carter continued working and filming Sort Your Life Out. She described using compartmentalisation to cope, focusing on getting better. 'I’m lucky that I am quite a positive person,' she said, adding that she had strong support throughout her journey.
Carter also spoke about survivor's guilt, saying: 'You have this huge amount of survivors guilt where you think you’re surrounded by people in a hospital, that are really poorly and that don’t make it.' She expressed gratitude for being able to continue her work on the show.
