A member of the Frasier cast revealed that she feared she would be fired after being diagnosed with breast cancer.
Kelsey Grammer reprised his role as the iconic psychiatrist in the Paramount+ revival last year, with the second season currently airing.
Despite some very familiar faces making cameos, the 69-year-old was joined by a mostly new cast, including Nicholas Lyndhurst, Jack Cutmore-Scott and Anders Keith, who plays his nephew, David.
The line-up secretly faced some heartache behind the scenes when Toks Olagundoye confirmed her health issues, and underwent a double mastectomy shortly into filming.
During an appearance on the Kelly Clarkson show, the Olivia Finch actress opened up about her battles with Stage 0, triple negative breast cancer at the age of 46, sharing that she thought that she would lose her job as a result.
Speaking to the host, the 49-year-old explained that she got herself checked out at the insistence of her gynecologist, while breastfeeding her son.
Toks Olagundoye opened up about her battles with breast cancer (Picture: Getty)
Toks plays Olivia in the revival of Frasier, opposite Nicholas Lyndhurst and Kelsey Grammer (Picture: Paramount+)
‘I had three surgeries and then I did chemo. When I was doing the chemo, I was only doing voiceover work,’ she said. ‘Then, two weeks after the chemo, I started Frasier – during that, I had a double mastectomy.
‘I’ve never had a TV family quite like the Frasier cast, they’re really amazing human beings. To be around them was really nice.
‘Originally, I was supposed to get my double mastectomy after we filmed. My surgeon called me and said, “I have a feeling we have to do it sooner.”
‘I went to my showrunners and said, listen, if you have to fire me, I’ve only been on three episodes so far, make me a guest star or whatever.’
She heaped praise on how the cast and crew rallied around her behind the scenes (Picture: Paramount+)
Although they reassured her and offered their full support, Toks still expected to be told the opposite by bosses and was prepared to walk away from the role.
‘I see Kelsey’s calling [later], and I was like, yep, this is it, getting fired, right this second,’ she continued. ‘He was very emotional, he didn’t realize what I was going through.
‘He said, “I know how actors think, I want to let you know this is your family, you’re not getting fired, we’re going to do whatever we need to do to make you feel comfortable.”
‘I remember him so vividly saying, “You’re going to be so happy after this. Everything is going to be okay.”’
Kelsey reached out privately – and in a pre-recorded video on the Kelly Clarkson Show (Picture: Paramount+)
Not only did Kelsey reach out privately, the Cheers legend also recorded a special message for Toks after being told she would be appearing on the Kelly Clarkson Show – a gesture that moved his colleague to tears.
‘I’m really proud of you for being on this …read more
Source:: Metro
