Losing your hair due to cancer treatment can be one of its most emotionally devastating side-effects.

But chat show host Trisha Goddard has bravely cut off her trademark glossy bob in exchange for a blonde crop because she doesn't want to 'look like a victim'.

The mother of two was diagnosed with breast cancer in March following a routine mammogram.

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Chat show host Trisha Goddard cuts her hair and dyes it blonde to reveal a stunning new look

After having a lumpectomy and lymph glands removed the 51 year-old was told the cancer has not spread - although she must still have sessions of chemotherapy as a precaution.

She admitted that her decision to cut her hair was foisted upon her by the fear her cancer treatment would leave her completely bald.

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Trisha Goddard with her famous tinted locks

She told Hello! magazine: 'When I learned that I was going to need chemotherapy following my surgery for breast cancer, I had to consider the prospect of losing my hair – something which really scared me.

'As a woman, my hair really helps me feel feminine. I am going to wear a cold cap during my treatment – something which stretches over your head and freezes the hair follicles, hopefully protecting them. 

'But that works better with short hair, so I knew that my usual hair extensions would have to be taken out and a shorter style would help. Also, if my hair does end up falling out, I don’t want to look like a victim. 

'So I decided to have a short crop for both practical and emotional reasons. Then, as I was talking to my husband Peter about it, he said ‘Why don’t you go the whole hog and have it bleached.’ As soon as he suggested it, I thought ‘Yes!’ It is like wearing my hair with pride and actually taking control. 

'The thought of losing my hair through the chemotherapy is so scary – but this is my own way of sticking two fingers up at the situation I find myself in.'

The TV presenter said the process of cutting her hair was traumatic.

She said: 'It was actually quite shocking and emotionally draining. This wasn’t like having a fun new style – it was pushed upon me by events which are out of my control.

I deliberately didn’t have a mirror in the room, so I didn’t have to sit and watch it all come off.  I had to have several glasses of champagne to help me through it .'

She added: 'I only looked when my hair stylist had finished bleaching it blonde – and I was shocked. It was like staring at someone else’s face, one that I didn’t recognise.

'If I do look in the mirror, it is like an intruder staring back – a stranger that I don’t recognise.

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The full feature appears in Hello! magazine, on sale now

Once these pictures have been shown I'm going to feel a lot braver about my new hairdo. It’s like being outed – once people have seen these photographs, I’ll find the courage to go out without a wig.

'It would be bull**** to say that I feel liberated and wonderful with this new hairstyle, because it reminds me of what is to come with my chemotherapy, and it scares me. But on the other hand, I’m pleased I’ve made this statement through the hairstyle. I've seized back just a tiny bit of control in a situation which is otherwise out of my control.'

The star - who was back at work within weeks of her first operation - plans to wear a wig to record the remainder of her shows but said that she might adopt her new look for the next series of Trisha.

Miss Goddard initially kept the diagnosis secret from daughters Madison, 14, and Billie, 18.

They live in Norfolk with husband Peter Gianfrancesco, chief executive of the Norwich branch of mental health charity Mind.

The presenter has recently published her autobiography, Trisha As I Am, which details episodes of child abuse and her teenager eating disorders.

She started her career in Australia and became the country's first black anchorwoman.
Her first husband, an Australian politician, was secretly gay and she discovered her second one betrayed her just after she had given birth to Madison.

Suffering from depression she took an overdose soon after and spent four months in a psychiatric hospital.

The full feature appears in Hello! magazine, on sale now (Wednesday)