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Nicole Eggert admitted that finances are a neglected conversation when it comes to fighting cancer.
Eggert, 54, was diagnosed with stage 2 cribriform carcinoma breast cancer in December 2023. Two years later, the actress revealed her cancer status was “NED,” or no evidence of disease.
While the “Baywatch” star is a survivor of a club she “never wanted to be a part of,” Eggert told Digital that the financial strains of her battle added an entirely different stressor to her life.
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“Baywatch” actress Nicole Eggert shared the financial realities of battling breast cancer. (Olivia Wong)
“I’m a 100% single parent,” Eggert explained. “One of my daughters is an adult, so she is very self-independent, and she does great, but I do have a teenager still at home … I have that responsibility, and then I have all the household and homemaker, head of household responsibilities and then the cost of what this diagnosis brings, which is a lot … really you can’t even wrap your head around it.”
‘BAYWATCH’ STAR NICOLE EGGERT SAYS IT’S ‘VERY HARD TO BE HEALTHY IN AMERICA’ AS SHE BATTLES CANCER
Eggert noted that the costs consistently “add up,” so much so that she was afraid of being able to provide for her family.
“In my line of work, I couldn’t commit to being on any kind of production because I’m gonna be in treatment and in and out of treatment … three-to-five at least days a week,” she said. “So, it’s not like it’s work from home kind of work.”
Nicole Eggert has one teenaged daughter, Keegan, and an adult daughter named Dilyn. (Amanda Edwards)
She added, “I had to completely come to the realization that I wasn’t gonna have income, and yet the bills don’t stop, and the teenagers still need their things, and life needs their things and the car still needs the gas, and you know, all of it.”
The “Charles in Charge” actress noted that when she took a step back and truly looked at the disease, “money seemed very trivial.”
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“It’s sort of like, well, ‘Ah, I’m alive.’ Then, you know, if you have any kind of financial strain, it’s like, ‘Well, at least you’re alive to deal with it,'” she said. “At least you are alive where you can go out and fix it.”
“I had to completely come to the realization that I wasn’t gonna have income.”
She added, “So there’s that part too, where suddenly you’re like, ‘Wow, whatever. It’s just it’s just money.’ And that comes and goes. So, you know, it’s ebb and flow of life.”
Nicole Eggert was shocked to realize the financial strains of cancer. (Getty Images)
In December 2023, after experiencing unexplained weight gain and pain in her left breast, Eggert was diagnosed with a rare form of breast cancer.
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She underwent her first mastectomy soon after, and later explained that she’d wanted to do a double mastectomy at the time, but her doctor advised that if she just had one breast removed, she’d be able to get into treatment faster, and her immune system wouldn’t take as big a hit, so she agreed.
WATCH: ‘Baywatch’ star Nicole Eggert details financial toll of cancer battle
Over a year later, in August 2025, she had her other breast removed, and surgeons performed a reconstruction.
Eggert admitted that one major component in her cancer journey was being able to rely on community.
Nicole Eggert, best known for her role in “Baywatch,” shared that she underwent a hysterectomy after troubling test results. (Getty Images; Nicole Eggert/Instagram)
“You really have to find your community, and you really have to be OK with asking for help or asking other people how they do it, and getting tips and tricks and just all the information you can get,” she said. “That’s why these conversations are just so, so important and so necessary. Because what else would you do?”
As part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Eggert partnered with Novartis and shared a little more insight into her cancer journey on the Voices of MORE podcast with Amy Robach and Dr. Helen Coons.
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Eggert explained how helpful it can be for women to get together, share stories and find interwoven commonality in experiences.
“If we keep talking about these things, it becomes so much easier to talk about, and maybe we don’t feel like we have to hide things anymore because in the past it’s not … it’s kind of been a taboo topic,” she said. “And now I think more and more women are becoming more comfortable to discuss what their journey looks like, what it feels like, how it’s gone for them.”
Nicole Eggert noted that while her oldest daughter was independent, her teenaged daughter still relied on her financially. (Robin L Marshall/Getty Images)
While the past has its place, Eggert is looking forward to the future and spending more time enjoying life to the fullest with her family.
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“I also am really looking forward to stepping back into life not having to be in treatment or in the treatment facility with this newfound power and fearlessness that I have, and this new appreciation for life that I have, and It’s like this second chance at life,” she said.
“I know that that’s so cliche, but it’s to jump back in with all of these crazy changes that have happened in the past two years, three years. There’s been very, very big changes inside myself.”
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She added, “So to be able to now go back into life and get back into the workforce and get back into doing things I enjoy with this new mindset, it’s exciting. It’s exciting!”
