November 1, 2025 • 20 mins
Hey Outlouders! For this week's Sunday Special, we're dropping an exclusive episode of our sister podcast Well into your feed, featuring Australia's golden girl, Tammy Hembrow. Tune in for her first-ever detailed public discussion about her melanoma diagnosis...
When you build your brand on the sun-kissed Gold Coast lifestyle, in some ways, the sun is your business partner. For global icon and fitness entrepreneur Tammy Hembrow, spending her life at the beach without ever wearing sunscreen was the norm. She thought she “never burned” and was convinced she was “immune” to the dangers of the sun.
At 28, that all changed. A tiny, harmless-looking freckle on the back of her leg led to a shocking melanoma diagnosis.
In this raw and honest interview, Tammy Hembrow sits down with Claire Murphy and shares her story of the skin cancer diagnosis that blindsided her. She reveals how she cancelled her skin check appointment "about five times" before her assistant finally made her go, the shock of learning the freckle was melanoma, and the surprising reality of the surgery that left a large "permanent reminder" on her leg.
Tammy opens up about the "rebellious" teenage attitude that made her ignore her dad's advice, and her new perspective on tanning, and the message she’s desperate to share with the millions of young people who follow her.
This is a powerful wake-up call about the real, and often hidden, dangers of Australia's sun-loving culture.
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All your health information is in the Well Hub.
If you've been putting off a skin check, this is your sign to book it. For more information on sun safety, visit the Cancer Council.
We understand that conversations about cancer can be difficult, whether you're navigating your own diagnosis, supporting a loved one, or remembering someone you've lost.
If today's episode has brought up difficult feelings, please reach out. The Cancer Council offers a confidential support line staffed by specialist nurses, and you can call them on 13 11 20.
For more specific information on the topics we discussed today, organisations like Australian Gynaecological Cancer Foundation, Ovarian Cancer Australia and the Australian Cervical Cancer Foundation provide incredible support and resources for patients and their families.
And if you just need to talk to someone immediately, you can always call Lifeline on 13 11 14. Remember to be kind to yourself, and please don't hesitate to seek support.
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CREDITS
Hosts: Claire Murphy and Dr Mariam
Guest: Professor Susan Davis
Senior Producers: Claire Murphy and Sally Best
Audio Producer: Scott Stronach
Video Producer: Julian Rosario
Social Producer: Elly Moore
Information discussed in Well. is for education purposes only and is not intended to provide professional medical advice. Listeners should seek their own medical advice, specific to their circumstances, from their treating doctor or health care professi
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
You're listening to a MoMA Mia podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Hi, out ladders, It's Holly here in your ears, and
I'm here because we are sharing an exclusive episode of
Mamma MEA's woman's health podcast Well with You Lot. This week,
Claire Murphy is speaking to someone who you might know
best for being well. She's kind of like a sun
kissed golden girl. She's a fitness entrepreneur. She's a person
(00:35):
who's built their brand on that very kind of gold
coasty look. That person is influencer Tammy Hembrow. This episode
covers Tammy's shocked skin cancer diagnosis and how her life
has changed in the aftermath of that health scare. It's
a powerful story about the real dangers of Australia's sun
loving culture, and Tammy shares a message that she's desperate
(00:58):
for her millions of followers to hear.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
I was twenty eight when I got my melanoma, so
I was young still.
Speaker 4 (01:05):
I just never expected it.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
I spent all my time at the beach in the sun,
and literally my whole life, I never ever wore sanscreen.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
It never crossed my mind skin cancer or anything.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
I just thought I would always be fine, and a
lot of these young women think they're invincible like I did,
and that's not how it is.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Hello there and welcome to a well special episode today.
You are channing into me, Claire Murphy and someone you
may know well. For their life in the limelight. As
a fitness influencer, model, and entrepreneur, Tammy Hembro has risen
to fame. She even rubbed shoulders with the Kardashian Jenna
clan back in twenty eighteen, leading to her and her
sisters being dubbed Australia's answer to the Kardashians. Tammy is
(01:52):
in some ways synonymous with the sun drenched, golden tan
lifestyle of the Gold Coast. She's built a global brand
on that very lifestyle. I'm a single mom, I've got
three kids.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
I've been in some very public relationship in the past
and it's my life at the end of the day,
end of the day.
Speaker 4 (02:11):
I'm just a human, guys. I'm a human. I make
human mistakes.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Hey, guys, we are here at the gym.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Just because I don't have a lot of time do
doesn't mean I don't want to slam the group.
Speaker 4 (02:25):
What That's where I can already feel the pump and pump.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
But living that sundrenched life came at a serious cost.
Tammy spent her childhood in teen years at the beach
soaking up rays for hours on end without ever giving
it a second thought. She thought she was invincible until
a harmless looking freckle on the back of her leg
turned out to be a melanoma. Tammy joins us today
to share her skin cancer journey and her powerful message
(02:55):
to her millions of followers. Tammy, thank you so much
for joining us today. Looks like from the beautiful sunny
Gold Coast. Looks like the weather that's nice.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Yeah, thank you for having me. It is a beautiful
day day. It's got to be like thirty degrees to
I'm amazing. I don't know why I'm wearing a jumper.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Right now, Why you're wearing a jumper right now?
Speaker 3 (03:18):
I just do it on for the school run this morning,
and now I'm regretting this.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
This is just where we're at, Temmy. We are talking
to you today about your skin cancer journey. So I
wanted to start off with getting an idea on who
pre melanoma Tammy was. Because you're living on the Gold Coast,
we know what the Gold Coast life is like, So
tell me a little bit about your habits pre melanoma.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
I grew up on the Gold Coast, so I spent
all my time at the beach in the sun, and
literally my whole life. I never ever wore sunscreen, and
in like high school and stuff, I used to lie
in the sun for hours to get a ten, obviously,
and I never wore sunscreen. And I never used to
burn either, so I would just straight away just get
really tanned. It never crossed my mind skin cancer anything.
(04:07):
I just thought, you know, I was blessed to get
like naturally really ten and I would always be fine.
But yeah, I never I never wore sunscreen. I never
even like gave it a second thought.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Really, did you feel like the fact that you did
ten and not burn made you feel like you're a
bit immune to that kind of stuff.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Yeah, I honestly thought I was immune, Like I thought
it just something like that would never happened to me.
I was convinced that my skin was just special and
I never got bunch or anything.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Did you miss the no play policy at school? Was
that around when you were a kid?
Speaker 4 (04:39):
Not really.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
My primary school that I went to was in Crumb
and Valley. There was like one hundred people in the
whole entire school. It was really small, so the rules
were very relaxed at that school. And then you know,
when I got to high school, I was a bit
of a rebel, so it never was really a big
thing for me.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
So would it have been like, oh god, hats and sunscreen? Like,
could you not? Is that the vibe high school time
we would have had?
Speaker 4 (05:04):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (05:04):
I mean it's funny because my dad is very has
always been like wear sunscreen, where a hat.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
He's very much like that, and I just never used
to listen to him.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Yeah, I think we can all agree that parents telling
you to do stuff is often the way to not
get them to do stuff. As you know as a
parent yourself, now, sometimes you need some reverse psychology. So
you've spent heaps of time out in the sun. You
are pretty open about how much you love going to
the beach and spending time in the ocean, and so
you are just out there feeling immune. What then alerts
(05:34):
you to maybe something on the back of your leg
which you would not be seeing every day in the mirror?
What alerts you to that being an issue?
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Had a little tiny freckle, which I thought nothing of.
I have new little freckles pop up all the time.
It didn't look suspicious, it didn't look weird or anything.
And I had just started getting skin checks and I
actually had one book I was getting like one yearly
living here.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
I thought, you know, it's probably a good idea to
do that.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
And I actually put off my appointment multiple times. I
kept having to cancel on risk because I was so busy.
So I was like, you know what, we'll just change
it to next month. We'll change it to next month.
And I put it off, honestly, about five times, and
then I finally went to the appointment because my pa
was like, girl, stop canceling it, like just go, Like
(06:22):
just gna.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
She's like, I've rescheduled this twenty times now, I cannot
make one more phone.
Speaker 4 (06:26):
I'm not rebooking this again for you.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
So I was like, okay, I'll go, and I went
and my doctor thought it looked a little bit suspicious,
this tiny little freckle, and I was like, oh, that's weird.
And then I ended up getting a phone call from
him not long after that appointment saying it is melanoma.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
And I was just like so like what. I was
so shocked.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
I had no idea, and I I'm so glad I
went to that appointment.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Now, when you were told over the phone, I imagine
you put the phone down and then you immediately look
at that thing on the back of your leg, like,
do you look at it differently? As soon as you
put the phone down.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
It still looked just so like nothing like.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
If I hadn't brought that appointment, I never ever would
have thought, like, I have other freckles that look way
more suspicious than that, And it was just like a tiny,
tiny little freckle, So it really wasn't anything out of
the ordinary. The only thing about it was that it
was on its own. It wasn't like near any other freckles.
I guess, so I guess that was the only sort
(07:26):
of suspicious thing. But I still wouldn't have even thought
that was suspicious.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
I'm guessing you wouldn't have known either. I spoke to
a skin cancer specialist who told me that it is
incredibly common for Australian women to get melanoma on their cuff.
Did you know that that was like one of the
most prevalent spots that women get skin cancer? Here in Australia.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
No, I had no idea. That's so interesting.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
We're just getting out with our miniskirts and shorts on
leaving them out to hang in the sun.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Yeah, you don't really like think about especially yeah in
like what you're wearing and stuff, and you're just in
the sun like every day or me.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
In the fun all the time. So yeah, I never
gave it a thought.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Really, how long between that phone call to when they
you in to have it removed?
Speaker 4 (08:08):
It was pretty quickly after that.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
I went in to get it removed, and I was
actually so shocked at the amount of my leg they
had to take out, Like it was a pretty big
chunk of my leg that they had to take out,
Like the freckle was a tiny, tiny freckle and the
area was probably like that.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
Big and like deep. So I have like a big
tea scar on the back of my leg now.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
And yeah, it was pretty shocking, Like obviously they had
to make sure they were getting it all and everything,
but I was like the fact that a tiny little
freckle like that can do that much damage is like crazy.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
How does that then change how you see yourself? I mean,
considering what you do for a living and you're out
there with your face and your body and your personalities
all kind of packaged up into what you do as
a job. How do you then factor in the fact
that you have this really big scar on the back
of your leg?
Speaker 4 (09:05):
Now?
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Does that not bother you?
Speaker 4 (09:07):
Doesn't bother me.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
The only thing about the scar that bothered me was
when it was first healing. It's right in a weird
spot under my knees, so I couldn't train probably for whiles,
and that was that was like something that was really frustrating.
And I actually started working out a bit sooner than
I was told to and it ended up getting infected,
which yeah, it was just like so it made me
(09:29):
take some time off working out and things like that.
So that was frustrating. But the scar, like how it looks,
I'm lucky it's not on my face or anything.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
It's on the back of my leg.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
But I think it's just like a nice reminder, to
be honest, It reminds me that I'm not invincible and
I need to think about these things.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Was there even time to really worry about it in between?
Like the fact that you didn't go to that appointment
with anything in mind, and that it was so quick
between being told it's melanoma to having it cut out.
Did you even have a moment to kind of sit
down and go, oh, my goodness, I actually have skin cancer?
Like did that even settle in in that time frame?
Speaker 4 (10:07):
I couldn't really wrap my head around it.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
I was like, this is like something that can be
very deadly and it's quite like a scary thing. I
just couldn't understand that I have it. I was like,
how has this happened? Like is this real? So yeah,
I didn't have a lot of time to sort of
process it. I think I was just like in shock
the whole time. But yeah, super grateful that we obviously
(10:31):
found it when we did.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
How do you feel about teenage you who was out
in the sun and feeling like nothing can touch you?
Like do you regret the choices that you made then
or do you look back and think I had to
kind of do that to learn the lesson now?
Speaker 4 (10:50):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (10:51):
I mean I feel like everything in life you can
learn something from. I wouldn't change anything, and I just
feel like I just didn't know better and now I
do and I've learned so much and now I can
hopefully teach that to my kids, and I always say
every time I'm with my friends in the sun, I'm like,
put on sound screen, Like I say it to everyone
(11:11):
everyone I meet.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
Now I'm like, I.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
Had modom like what your sound screen? So I think
I wouldn't change anything. I don't like regret it, but
I hope others can learn from it.
Speaker 4 (11:21):
But yeah, teenage me, she didn't know better.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Did teenage you hear about Slipslop's lap? I feel like
we all got told that. Did that just not land
for you?
Speaker 4 (11:31):
Yeah? It really didn't. Yeah, I don't know. I didn't.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
I was very rebellious when I was a teenager, and
I did think I was invincible. You never think something
like that is going to happen to you, Like you
see things happen to other people and you're like, oh,
wouldn't happen to me.
Speaker 4 (11:49):
And I was very much like that.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
And I feel like maybe that was something I had
to go through to learn.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
Yeah, maybe public health safety messages were not high priority
for younger Tammy. Do you feel like, and this is
something that I often think about with anyone who's in
the public eye, whether that's you know, someone who's sporting,
political whatever, it might be you are effectively a role
model now, whether you want to be or not. Do
(12:16):
you think now we've talked about the fact that public
health services messaging did not hit home for you, do
you think that now people like yourself, who are in
a position where you do have a following and where
you can reach people, do you feel a responsibility to
now pass on some of those public health messages, in
your instance, being so safe and maybe that will hit
home a little bit more for younger people than say
(12:37):
the slip slop, slap seek and slide message does.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Yeah, well, I think like even for me, if the
same social media and stuff was around back then, maybe
that would have affected me differently. I like listening to
people in the public eye that maybe you follow and
you admire and things like that can definitely have more
more likely to listen to.
Speaker 4 (12:58):
Hopefully, so I hope in that way I can.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
Have a positive impact and some of my younger audience
will listen to me.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Okay, So how does a Gold Coast girly reinvent herself
after this? Because you are a sun worship bar, you
love going to the beach, how do you then reassess
your life habits in the aftermath of that, because you know,
it's a big wake up for right.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
Yeah, so I still love the beach. I still go
to the beach all the time. I obviously use SPF now,
and I've always been strict on putting sunscreen on my kids.
But even when like Wolf and SaaS were younger, like
nine years ago, I still never put sunscreen on myself
at that time.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
Always put it on them all the time, and I
just didn't.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
I don't know, is that part of that feeling immune
to it still?
Speaker 3 (13:51):
And so now we definitely all wear sunscreen, and we'll
go to the beach in the morning or the afternoon
where the sun's like not as strong. But yeah, it's
definitely made me rethink things and I definitely don't go
like lay in the sun for hours now like I
used to just to get a tan. I spray tan
all the time now, But I used to just go
(14:12):
to the beach just to tan, Like now I go
because I want to play with my kids on the sand,
I want to go for a swim.
Speaker 4 (14:18):
I'm definitely not going to the beach to like tan.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
What does the after care look like after you've had
a melanoma removed? Like I imagine you have to go
to appointments pretty more frequently than once a year after that.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
Yeah, so I just graduated to every six months right now.
But I was going every three months, which felt like
I basically lived at my doctor's office. I tell like
I was there all the time, because you know, like
three months flies by, especially because I'm so busy all
the time. Yeah, I was going there so often. Felt weird,
(14:50):
just because I'm obviously at a higher risk.
Speaker 4 (14:52):
Now. Yeah, it's just such a strange shift that I.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
Went from canceling this appointment five times, so now I'm
there like all the time.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
I guess you don't cancel these ones anymore.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
Yeah, no, I definitely don't. I make sure I to
every single one now.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
In between those visits, Like I said, someone in your
life that will check for you, like in spaces that
you can't see, Like, do you have someone look at
your back and just let you know in case there's
something you have to go a little bit quicker for
or do you wait for those doctor's appointments to check in.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
I look at myself if I see anything suspicious.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
I usually have an appointment like around the corner. So
then when I go in I'll be like, is this
one okay?
Speaker 3 (15:28):
And every single time I've been like, I've been pretty
paranoid about so many little freckles now and he's like, no,
that's fine, it's fine. So it's just so strange that
I have no idea like which ones could be something. So, yeah,
those appointments are really important.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
So now you no longer feel immune. Now you are
following the steps and making sure that you are safe,
and you've always protected your kids from the sun. But
I don't know if you've seen there's been some TikTok
trends of late of young women in particular who are tanning,
like hardcore tanning so that they get tan lines and
then they show off those ten lines like it's something
(16:03):
to be proud of. How does that make you feel
when you see that?
Speaker 3 (16:07):
Yeah, it's sad because I feel like that was me
like when I was younger, and I've seen so many
of these, like the tan line trends and things like that,
and I'm like, I was twenty eight when I got
my melanoma, so I was young still, like I just
never expected it, and I'm like, it's going to catch
up with you. And a lot of these young women
think they're invincible like I did, and it's just that's
(16:29):
not how it is. And unfortunately someone won't catch it,
they won't find it in their appointments, and they'll you know,
miss it, and then it can end up really tragically.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Do you reckon, just quietly before you got a melanoma
that you would have maybe participated in that trend had
it been like big when you were young.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
It's hard to say because obviously I didn't have TikTok
and stuff when I was that younger age, so I
don't really know.
Speaker 4 (16:56):
I don't think so. But then, yeah, I don't know,
to be honest.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Yeah, maybe we don't know what young us would actually
have been into at the time, especially when we're a
bit young and stupid.
Speaker 4 (17:05):
We might have done those things probably.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Yeah. What about when you see like Chloe Kardashian famously
had a Melanie mckayd out of her face and we
saw that process on the Kardashians as well as it, Like,
do you feel a bit like a kindred spirit when
you see other people going through that kind of thing
now too?
Speaker 3 (17:22):
Yeah, Well, it just shows you how like it's much
more common than you think. I don't know what made
me think I was like so invincible before, because it's
such an actual common thing. And yeah, it's nice to
see things like that being shared in the public so
other younger girls can see it, younger people can see it.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
How did you explain or did you even try and
explain it to the kids, because obviously you're already being
as soun safe as possible with them, but like, do
you explain what happened to you and give them an
idea of you know, the potential damage the sun can
do to their skin?
Speaker 4 (17:56):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (17:56):
Absolutely, I had a talk with them about it and
explain how serious it is, like hopefully trying to make
them not make the same mistakes that I did when
I was a teenager and stuff when they're going out
with their friends in the sun and things like that.
I hope they make better chances than I did, so
I totinitally try to explain like how serious it is.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
What message would you have for people now after learning
what you've learned and going through their phase where you
did think it would never happen to me and that
I'm basically immune to all of this, Like, what message
do you have to people who might be going out
on the beach today, on this beautiful day that we're
currently sitting in to lay on the beach and get
a tan.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
I would say, enjoy the beach, but be smart about it.
Speaker 4 (18:39):
Protect your skin.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
We have amazing like spray tnds and things now, like
if you really want to be tan that bad, get
a spray tnd. Yeah, just be smart about your skin.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
So what can we see coming our way from you
for the rest of twenty twenty five and maybe even
into twenty twenty six. It's not that far away.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
I have a lot of really exciting things coming up, actually,
some things that are very out of my comfort zone,
some things that I've never done before, but people have
to stay tuned for that. Also, just working on my
supplement brands, selfish with my sisters, some really exciting things
happening there, and yeah, just keep them busy, keep them busy.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
On the Gold Coast in the Sunsrine, Well, thank you
so much for sharing all of this with us today.
We know that young people really look up to you,
and it would be really great if they can learn
from someone that they know and respect that dancing with
the sun sometimes can have some pretty treacherous results.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
Right I'm almost glad that it happened to me so
I can influence some young women about it.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
I think this is really going to help people maybe
rethink some serious choices that they're making out in the sun.
So Tammy, thank you so much for joining us. Really
appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (19:53):
Thanks for having me, Thanks.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
For joining us today, for this very powerful lesson that
we are not invincible, and a little reminder of that
government advice we've heard all our lives, but like teenage
Tammy maybe didn't take seriously that message. Of course, your
slip slop, slap, seek and slide, slip on a shirt,
slop on s onscreen, slap on a hat, seek shade
and slide on Sunny's take this as a crucial reminder.
(20:18):
Book in these skin checks with your doctor and again
remember if you have any worries that we haven't addressed here,
or even if we have, again check in with your
own doctor to make sure you're getting the right advice
for you. Well is produced by me Claire Murphy and
our senior producer, Sally Best, with audio production by Scott Stronik,
video production by Julian Rosario, and social production by Ellie Moore.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
We hope you enjoyed Clay's discussion with Tammy and maybe
also found it a little bit of a wake up
call and reminder for us all to be smart about
our skin this summer. If you want to hear more
about women's health, Well is your full body health check
and drops every week on a Thursday. Go check it
out wherever you get your podcasts.
You're listening to a MoMA Mia podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Hi, out ladders, It's Holly here in your ears, and
I'm here because we are sharing an exclusive episode of
Mamma MEA's woman's health podcast Well with You Lot. This week,
Claire Murphy is speaking to someone who you might know
best for being well. She's kind of like a sun
kissed golden girl. She's a fitness entrepreneur. She's a person
(00:35):
who's built their brand on that very kind of gold
coasty look. That person is influencer Tammy Hembrow. This episode
covers Tammy's shocked skin cancer diagnosis and how her life
has changed in the aftermath of that health scare. It's
a powerful story about the real dangers of Australia's sun
loving culture, and Tammy shares a message that she's desperate
(00:58):
for her millions of followers to hear.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
I was twenty eight when I got my melanoma, so
I was young still.
Speaker 4 (01:05):
I just never expected it.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
I spent all my time at the beach in the sun,
and literally my whole life, I never ever wore sanscreen.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
It never crossed my mind skin cancer or anything.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
I just thought I would always be fine, and a
lot of these young women think they're invincible like I did,
and that's not how it is.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Hello there and welcome to a well special episode today.
You are channing into me, Claire Murphy and someone you
may know well. For their life in the limelight. As
a fitness influencer, model, and entrepreneur, Tammy Hembro has risen
to fame. She even rubbed shoulders with the Kardashian Jenna
clan back in twenty eighteen, leading to her and her
sisters being dubbed Australia's answer to the Kardashians. Tammy is
(01:52):
in some ways synonymous with the sun drenched, golden tan
lifestyle of the Gold Coast. She's built a global brand
on that very lifestyle. I'm a single mom, I've got
three kids.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
I've been in some very public relationship in the past
and it's my life at the end of the day,
end of the day.
Speaker 4 (02:11):
I'm just a human, guys. I'm a human. I make
human mistakes.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Hey, guys, we are here at the gym.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Just because I don't have a lot of time do
doesn't mean I don't want to slam the group.
Speaker 4 (02:25):
What That's where I can already feel the pump and pump.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
But living that sundrenched life came at a serious cost.
Tammy spent her childhood in teen years at the beach
soaking up rays for hours on end without ever giving
it a second thought. She thought she was invincible until
a harmless looking freckle on the back of her leg
turned out to be a melanoma. Tammy joins us today
to share her skin cancer journey and her powerful message
(02:55):
to her millions of followers. Tammy, thank you so much
for joining us today. Looks like from the beautiful sunny
Gold Coast. Looks like the weather that's nice.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Yeah, thank you for having me. It is a beautiful
day day. It's got to be like thirty degrees to
I'm amazing. I don't know why I'm wearing a jumper.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Right now, Why you're wearing a jumper right now?
Speaker 3 (03:18):
I just do it on for the school run this morning,
and now I'm regretting this.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
This is just where we're at, Temmy. We are talking
to you today about your skin cancer journey. So I
wanted to start off with getting an idea on who
pre melanoma Tammy was. Because you're living on the Gold Coast,
we know what the Gold Coast life is like, So
tell me a little bit about your habits pre melanoma.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
I grew up on the Gold Coast, so I spent
all my time at the beach in the sun, and
literally my whole life. I never ever wore sunscreen, and
in like high school and stuff, I used to lie
in the sun for hours to get a ten, obviously,
and I never wore sunscreen. And I never used to
burn either, so I would just straight away just get
really tanned. It never crossed my mind skin cancer anything.
(04:07):
I just thought, you know, I was blessed to get
like naturally really ten and I would always be fine.
But yeah, I never I never wore sunscreen. I never
even like gave it a second thought.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Really, did you feel like the fact that you did
ten and not burn made you feel like you're a
bit immune to that kind of stuff.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Yeah, I honestly thought I was immune, Like I thought
it just something like that would never happened to me.
I was convinced that my skin was just special and
I never got bunch or anything.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Did you miss the no play policy at school? Was
that around when you were a kid?
Speaker 4 (04:39):
Not really.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
My primary school that I went to was in Crumb
and Valley. There was like one hundred people in the
whole entire school. It was really small, so the rules
were very relaxed at that school. And then you know,
when I got to high school, I was a bit
of a rebel, so it never was really a big
thing for me.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
So would it have been like, oh god, hats and sunscreen? Like,
could you not? Is that the vibe high school time
we would have had?
Speaker 4 (05:04):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (05:04):
I mean it's funny because my dad is very has
always been like wear sunscreen, where a hat.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
He's very much like that, and I just never used
to listen to him.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Yeah, I think we can all agree that parents telling
you to do stuff is often the way to not
get them to do stuff. As you know as a
parent yourself, now, sometimes you need some reverse psychology. So
you've spent heaps of time out in the sun. You
are pretty open about how much you love going to
the beach and spending time in the ocean, and so
you are just out there feeling immune. What then alerts
(05:34):
you to maybe something on the back of your leg
which you would not be seeing every day in the mirror?
What alerts you to that being an issue?
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Had a little tiny freckle, which I thought nothing of.
I have new little freckles pop up all the time.
It didn't look suspicious, it didn't look weird or anything.
And I had just started getting skin checks and I
actually had one book I was getting like one yearly
living here.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
I thought, you know, it's probably a good idea to
do that.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
And I actually put off my appointment multiple times. I
kept having to cancel on risk because I was so busy.
So I was like, you know what, we'll just change
it to next month. We'll change it to next month.
And I put it off, honestly, about five times, and
then I finally went to the appointment because my pa
was like, girl, stop canceling it, like just go, Like
(06:22):
just gna.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
She's like, I've rescheduled this twenty times now, I cannot
make one more phone.
Speaker 4 (06:26):
I'm not rebooking this again for you.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
So I was like, okay, I'll go, and I went
and my doctor thought it looked a little bit suspicious,
this tiny little freckle, and I was like, oh, that's weird.
And then I ended up getting a phone call from
him not long after that appointment saying it is melanoma.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
And I was just like so like what. I was
so shocked.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
I had no idea, and I I'm so glad I
went to that appointment.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Now, when you were told over the phone, I imagine
you put the phone down and then you immediately look
at that thing on the back of your leg, like,
do you look at it differently? As soon as you
put the phone down.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
It still looked just so like nothing like.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
If I hadn't brought that appointment, I never ever would
have thought, like, I have other freckles that look way
more suspicious than that, And it was just like a tiny,
tiny little freckle, So it really wasn't anything out of
the ordinary. The only thing about it was that it
was on its own. It wasn't like near any other freckles.
I guess, so I guess that was the only sort
(07:26):
of suspicious thing. But I still wouldn't have even thought
that was suspicious.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
I'm guessing you wouldn't have known either. I spoke to
a skin cancer specialist who told me that it is
incredibly common for Australian women to get melanoma on their cuff.
Did you know that that was like one of the
most prevalent spots that women get skin cancer? Here in Australia.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
No, I had no idea. That's so interesting.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
We're just getting out with our miniskirts and shorts on
leaving them out to hang in the sun.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Yeah, you don't really like think about especially yeah in
like what you're wearing and stuff, and you're just in
the sun like every day or me.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
In the fun all the time. So yeah, I never
gave it a thought.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Really, how long between that phone call to when they
you in to have it removed?
Speaker 4 (08:08):
It was pretty quickly after that.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
I went in to get it removed, and I was
actually so shocked at the amount of my leg they
had to take out, Like it was a pretty big
chunk of my leg that they had to take out,
Like the freckle was a tiny, tiny freckle and the
area was probably like that.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
Big and like deep. So I have like a big
tea scar on the back of my leg now.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
And yeah, it was pretty shocking, Like obviously they had
to make sure they were getting it all and everything,
but I was like the fact that a tiny little
freckle like that can do that much damage is like crazy.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
How does that then change how you see yourself? I mean,
considering what you do for a living and you're out
there with your face and your body and your personalities
all kind of packaged up into what you do as
a job. How do you then factor in the fact
that you have this really big scar on the back
of your leg?
Speaker 4 (09:05):
Now?
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Does that not bother you?
Speaker 4 (09:07):
Doesn't bother me.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
The only thing about the scar that bothered me was
when it was first healing. It's right in a weird
spot under my knees, so I couldn't train probably for whiles,
and that was that was like something that was really frustrating.
And I actually started working out a bit sooner than
I was told to and it ended up getting infected,
which yeah, it was just like so it made me
(09:29):
take some time off working out and things like that.
So that was frustrating. But the scar, like how it looks,
I'm lucky it's not on my face or anything.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
It's on the back of my leg.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
But I think it's just like a nice reminder, to
be honest, It reminds me that I'm not invincible and
I need to think about these things.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Was there even time to really worry about it in between?
Like the fact that you didn't go to that appointment
with anything in mind, and that it was so quick
between being told it's melanoma to having it cut out.
Did you even have a moment to kind of sit
down and go, oh, my goodness, I actually have skin cancer?
Like did that even settle in in that time frame?
Speaker 4 (10:07):
I couldn't really wrap my head around it.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
I was like, this is like something that can be
very deadly and it's quite like a scary thing. I
just couldn't understand that I have it. I was like,
how has this happened? Like is this real? So yeah,
I didn't have a lot of time to sort of
process it. I think I was just like in shock
the whole time. But yeah, super grateful that we obviously
(10:31):
found it when we did.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
How do you feel about teenage you who was out
in the sun and feeling like nothing can touch you?
Like do you regret the choices that you made then
or do you look back and think I had to
kind of do that to learn the lesson now?
Speaker 4 (10:50):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (10:51):
I mean I feel like everything in life you can
learn something from. I wouldn't change anything, and I just
feel like I just didn't know better and now I
do and I've learned so much and now I can
hopefully teach that to my kids, and I always say
every time I'm with my friends in the sun, I'm like,
put on sound screen, Like I say it to everyone
(11:11):
everyone I meet.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
Now I'm like, I.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
Had modom like what your sound screen? So I think
I wouldn't change anything. I don't like regret it, but
I hope others can learn from it.
Speaker 4 (11:21):
But yeah, teenage me, she didn't know better.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Did teenage you hear about Slipslop's lap? I feel like
we all got told that. Did that just not land
for you?
Speaker 4 (11:31):
Yeah? It really didn't. Yeah, I don't know. I didn't.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
I was very rebellious when I was a teenager, and
I did think I was invincible. You never think something
like that is going to happen to you, Like you
see things happen to other people and you're like, oh,
wouldn't happen to me.
Speaker 4 (11:49):
And I was very much like that.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
And I feel like maybe that was something I had
to go through to learn.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
Yeah, maybe public health safety messages were not high priority
for younger Tammy. Do you feel like, and this is
something that I often think about with anyone who's in
the public eye, whether that's you know, someone who's sporting,
political whatever, it might be you are effectively a role
model now, whether you want to be or not. Do
(12:16):
you think now we've talked about the fact that public
health services messaging did not hit home for you, do
you think that now people like yourself, who are in
a position where you do have a following and where
you can reach people, do you feel a responsibility to
now pass on some of those public health messages, in
your instance, being so safe and maybe that will hit
home a little bit more for younger people than say
(12:37):
the slip slop, slap seek and slide message does.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Yeah, well, I think like even for me, if the
same social media and stuff was around back then, maybe
that would have affected me differently. I like listening to
people in the public eye that maybe you follow and
you admire and things like that can definitely have more
more likely to listen to.
Speaker 4 (12:58):
Hopefully, so I hope in that way I can.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
Have a positive impact and some of my younger audience
will listen to me.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Okay, So how does a Gold Coast girly reinvent herself
after this? Because you are a sun worship bar, you
love going to the beach, how do you then reassess
your life habits in the aftermath of that, because you know,
it's a big wake up for right.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
Yeah, so I still love the beach. I still go
to the beach all the time. I obviously use SPF now,
and I've always been strict on putting sunscreen on my kids.
But even when like Wolf and SaaS were younger, like
nine years ago, I still never put sunscreen on myself
at that time.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
Always put it on them all the time, and I
just didn't.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
I don't know, is that part of that feeling immune
to it still?
Speaker 3 (13:51):
And so now we definitely all wear sunscreen, and we'll
go to the beach in the morning or the afternoon
where the sun's like not as strong. But yeah, it's
definitely made me rethink things and I definitely don't go
like lay in the sun for hours now like I
used to just to get a tan. I spray tan
all the time now, But I used to just go
(14:12):
to the beach just to tan, Like now I go
because I want to play with my kids on the sand,
I want to go for a swim.
Speaker 4 (14:18):
I'm definitely not going to the beach to like tan.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
What does the after care look like after you've had
a melanoma removed? Like I imagine you have to go
to appointments pretty more frequently than once a year after that.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
Yeah, so I just graduated to every six months right now.
But I was going every three months, which felt like
I basically lived at my doctor's office. I tell like
I was there all the time, because you know, like
three months flies by, especially because I'm so busy all
the time. Yeah, I was going there so often. Felt weird,
(14:50):
just because I'm obviously at a higher risk.
Speaker 4 (14:52):
Now. Yeah, it's just such a strange shift that I.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
Went from canceling this appointment five times, so now I'm
there like all the time.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
I guess you don't cancel these ones anymore.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
Yeah, no, I definitely don't. I make sure I to
every single one now.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
In between those visits, Like I said, someone in your
life that will check for you, like in spaces that
you can't see, Like, do you have someone look at
your back and just let you know in case there's
something you have to go a little bit quicker for
or do you wait for those doctor's appointments to check in.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
I look at myself if I see anything suspicious.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
I usually have an appointment like around the corner. So
then when I go in I'll be like, is this
one okay?
Speaker 3 (15:28):
And every single time I've been like, I've been pretty
paranoid about so many little freckles now and he's like, no,
that's fine, it's fine. So it's just so strange that
I have no idea like which ones could be something. So, yeah,
those appointments are really important.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
So now you no longer feel immune. Now you are
following the steps and making sure that you are safe,
and you've always protected your kids from the sun. But
I don't know if you've seen there's been some TikTok
trends of late of young women in particular who are tanning,
like hardcore tanning so that they get tan lines and
then they show off those ten lines like it's something
(16:03):
to be proud of. How does that make you feel
when you see that?
Speaker 3 (16:07):
Yeah, it's sad because I feel like that was me
like when I was younger, and I've seen so many
of these, like the tan line trends and things like that,
and I'm like, I was twenty eight when I got
my melanoma, so I was young still, like I just
never expected it, and I'm like, it's going to catch
up with you. And a lot of these young women
think they're invincible like I did, and it's just that's
(16:29):
not how it is. And unfortunately someone won't catch it,
they won't find it in their appointments, and they'll you know,
miss it, and then it can end up really tragically.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Do you reckon, just quietly before you got a melanoma
that you would have maybe participated in that trend had
it been like big when you were young.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
It's hard to say because obviously I didn't have TikTok
and stuff when I was that younger age, so I
don't really know.
Speaker 4 (16:56):
I don't think so. But then, yeah, I don't know,
to be honest.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Yeah, maybe we don't know what young us would actually
have been into at the time, especially when we're a
bit young and stupid.
Speaker 4 (17:05):
We might have done those things probably.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Yeah. What about when you see like Chloe Kardashian famously
had a Melanie mckayd out of her face and we
saw that process on the Kardashians as well as it, Like,
do you feel a bit like a kindred spirit when
you see other people going through that kind of thing
now too?
Speaker 3 (17:22):
Yeah, Well, it just shows you how like it's much
more common than you think. I don't know what made
me think I was like so invincible before, because it's
such an actual common thing. And yeah, it's nice to
see things like that being shared in the public so
other younger girls can see it, younger people can see it.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
How did you explain or did you even try and
explain it to the kids, because obviously you're already being
as soun safe as possible with them, but like, do
you explain what happened to you and give them an
idea of you know, the potential damage the sun can
do to their skin?
Speaker 4 (17:56):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (17:56):
Absolutely, I had a talk with them about it and
explain how serious it is, like hopefully trying to make
them not make the same mistakes that I did when
I was a teenager and stuff when they're going out
with their friends in the sun and things like that.
I hope they make better chances than I did, so
I totinitally try to explain like how serious it is.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
What message would you have for people now after learning
what you've learned and going through their phase where you
did think it would never happen to me and that
I'm basically immune to all of this, Like, what message
do you have to people who might be going out
on the beach today, on this beautiful day that we're
currently sitting in to lay on the beach and get
a tan.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
I would say, enjoy the beach, but be smart about it.
Speaker 4 (18:39):
Protect your skin.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
We have amazing like spray tnds and things now, like
if you really want to be tan that bad, get
a spray tnd. Yeah, just be smart about your skin.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
So what can we see coming our way from you
for the rest of twenty twenty five and maybe even
into twenty twenty six. It's not that far away.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
I have a lot of really exciting things coming up, actually,
some things that are very out of my comfort zone,
some things that I've never done before, but people have
to stay tuned for that. Also, just working on my
supplement brands, selfish with my sisters, some really exciting things
happening there, and yeah, just keep them busy, keep them busy.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
On the Gold Coast in the Sunsrine, Well, thank you
so much for sharing all of this with us today.
We know that young people really look up to you,
and it would be really great if they can learn
from someone that they know and respect that dancing with
the sun sometimes can have some pretty treacherous results.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
Right I'm almost glad that it happened to me so
I can influence some young women about it.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
I think this is really going to help people maybe
rethink some serious choices that they're making out in the sun.
So Tammy, thank you so much for joining us. Really
appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (19:53):
Thanks for having me, Thanks.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
For joining us today, for this very powerful lesson that
we are not invincible, and a little reminder of that
government advice we've heard all our lives, but like teenage
Tammy maybe didn't take seriously that message. Of course, your
slip slop, slap, seek and slide, slip on a shirt,
slop on s onscreen, slap on a hat, seek shade
and slide on Sunny's take this as a crucial reminder.
(20:18):
Book in these skin checks with your doctor and again
remember if you have any worries that we haven't addressed here,
or even if we have, again check in with your
own doctor to make sure you're getting the right advice
for you. Well is produced by me Claire Murphy and
our senior producer, Sally Best, with audio production by Scott Stronik,
video production by Julian Rosario, and social production by Ellie Moore.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
We hope you enjoyed Clay's discussion with Tammy and maybe
also found it a little bit of a wake up
call and reminder for us all to be smart about
our skin this summer. If you want to hear more
about women's health, Well is your full body health check
and drops every week on a Thursday. Go check it
out wherever you get your podcasts.
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