'I was told to have cancer operation FOUR times,' reveals Jade in emotional new interview

The 27-year-old Big Brother star, who is now fighting advanced cervical cancer, had already had three abnormal smear tests and after each had endured an operation to remove the cells.

But after her fourth abnormal smear she ignored a letter telling her to return to hospital, instead hoping it would go away on its own.

A tearful Jade Goody, moments after being told she had cancer in the Inidian Big Brother house

'When I heard I had more abnormal cells I thought, "this is the fourth time I've been told I need to have the same operation now,' she told Heat Magazine.

'Once you have them burnt off they shouldn't come back, I was too scared.'

It was only after the mother-of-two collapsed from blood loss on August 5, for the fourth time in four years, that she realised she couldn't ignore her condition.

'The doctors were doing tests for my blood loss - but they seemed unclear about what it could be. It was then that I was told I must have another operation on the dodgy cells on my cervix.

'They'd sent a letter to me ages ago telling me I needed to go in, but I'd been too scared to do anything about it.'

Jade struggles to control her emotions as she arrives back in the UK

Jade's first had an abnormal smear test when she was just 16.

'Even before I was sexually active, I had to have pre-cancerous cells removed. And that nearly traumatised me for life, it was so painful.'

After collapsing in August Jade was warned that she could be facing a terminal illness, but she decided to go ahead with her trip to India. She reasoned that the £100,000 fee would be needed to raise her two young sons if she fell ill.

She is now due to have an urgent hysterectomy to remove her womb, followed by an intensive course of radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

Supported by her former partner Jack Tweed, Jade leaves a meeting with her consultant