In a new interview with Gayle King for CBS Mornings, Tina revealed that she was diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer last year.
Tina revealed to Gayle that doctors discovered two tumors in her left breast during a mammogram appointment that had been delayed during the COVID-19 pandemic and was eventually rescheduled for 2024. “I’ve always tried to take care of myself,” she said. “I just…was in disbelief.”
Tina also said that her doctors later informed her that, if she hadn’t missed her screening, the detection might have occurred at Stage 0, which is when the cancer hasn’t yet spread beyond the tissue.
Luckily, Tina was able to undergo a lumpectomy last August and is now cancer-free. She also said that Beyoncé and Solange, along with several of her friends, accompanied her on the day of the surgery.
“I was nervous, so they started just joking with me,” Tina recalled, revealing that Solange played her the viral “demure” video to help put her at ease. Solange also sang the song “Walk With Me” along with Tina’s niece Angie Beyincé before the surgery. “I said, ‘I’m just so happy that y’all are here,'” Tina said.
Tina also said that, following surgery, she’d developed a serious infection last fall that almost prevented her from attending Glamour’s 2024 Women of the Year event — and that Beyoncé, amongst other family members, urged her to rest. “Mama, you’re not yourself,” Tina recalled Beyoncé telling her. “She was like, ‘Your health is more important. Don’t go.'”
But Tina managed to attend the event and give a speech regardless of how she was feeling. “A lot of my life, I just refused to be recognized,” she said while explaining the reason why she ultimately pushed through. “I would never take an award. I would never want the attention to me…and this was my saying, ‘I deserve this.'”