Heavy/Getty Harry Jowsey talks about his cancer diagnosis.
Season 32 “Dancing With the Stars” contestant Harry Jowsey is speaking out after being diagnosed with skin cancer.
“It’s just a bit scary, bit of a rude awakening, but it humbled me. The fact that I’m able to inspire people to get their skin checked is awesome,” Jowsey told Us Weekly.
“I had a lot of friends call me and [say], ‘I actually haven’t had my skin checked ever so the fact that you posted what was going on made me want to go and get myself checked out to make sure I was all in the clear.’ But the thing is, 1 in 5 people have skin cancer. It’s just better to go get checked and just to be safe and wear your sunscreen,” he added.
Harry Jowsey Encouraged His Fans to ‘Wear Sunscreen’
Following a visit to the dermatologist, Jowsey received news he never thought he’d hear. Now, he’s advising people to “wear sunscreen” in an effort to raise awareness about sun damage.
“Hi friends. There isn’t really an easy way to say this, but last week I went to a dermatologist to get my skin checked and they found some skin cancer on me,” Jowsey said on TikTok. “I’m going to be all good. Everything’s going to be okay,” he assured his fans.
“I just wanted to make this post to let you know that summer’s around the corner. Please wear sunscreen,” he added.
He said that the cancer was found on his shoulder and had been there for more than a year and he had “no idea.”
In an interview with E! News, Jowsey said that he wanted to use his platform to raise awareness for melanoma.
“I have a big audience and a big community—I feel like if I don’t do something positive with it and share what I’m going through, then it’s like a waste of a community. As soon as I did it, there was a community of people behind me that were like, ‘Yeah, we’re doing this as well. This is good sunscreen.’ And everyone is helping each other out. So, I realized that it’s probably good to do positive things online instead of being a [expletive]boy,” he told the outlet.
Harry Jowsey Hasn’t Shared His Course of Treatment
Taking to TikTok once more, Jowsey has shared a more detailed look at what skin cancer can look like. However, he hasn’t shared what course of treatment his doctor will take to get rid of his particular cancer.
According to the National Cancer Institute, there are a variety of treatment options depending on the stage of the cancer. These treatments include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and immunotherapy.
It’s also unknown if Jowsey will undergo any additional tests to check to see if the cancer spread. However, it is likely that he will need to have regular skin checks to ensure that additional areas of concern don’t pop up.
“To find out the stage of melanoma, the tumor is completely removed and nearby lymph nodes are checked for signs of cancer. The stage of the cancer is used to determine which treatment is best,” the National Cancer Institute reports.
Jowsey rose to fame on the hit Netflix series, “Too Hot to Handle.”
READ NEXT: Emma Slater Admits She’s Grown Close to Someone From DWTS