LA TV icon Jillian Barberie on her journey through fame, divorce, cancer and debt: "What happened to my life?"
From the heights of fame and fortune to the depths of despair, Jillian Barberie has lived it all.
"I was raising two kids by myself, no job, divorced, cancer, going through [chemotherapy]," she said.
Once the top draw of Los Angeles' No. 1 morning show, she has since endured unimaginable challenges.
"Thinking I was going to be homeless, I was like 'What happened to my life?" Barberie said.
A life-changing shift in career and marriage
For more than 20 years, Barberie was a Southern California superstar and a national style icon. She hosted FOX 11's Good Day LA which, at the time, was the top morning show in the market. However, that run came to an end in 2012 when FOX began a revamp of the show.
"People would say 'Oh they'll never get rid of you,'" she said. "I'm like 'Of course they will.' I'm not that dumb, but when it happened I had a husband at the time that didn't work. I had a baby in diapers ... I did cry."
Fans tuned in for Barberie's unpredictability, but her strong personality sometimes became a curse.
"I don't know how to be anybody but myself and sometimes to my own detriment," she said.
When Barberie's run on the show ended, her children were young and she was the family's breadwinner.
"I got the divorce," she said. "I mean some of it was good news."
"Take me to the brink of death"
In 2018, images from an annual "mammogram-with-friends" gathering revealed a mass in her breast that turned out to be cancerous. Days later, a biopsy revealed it had spread to six lymph nodes.
"I'm aggressive. So, when they said I had lymph nodes I was just like 'Take me to the brink of death and take me back again,'" Barberie said.
She opted for a double mastectomy, radiation and an intense course of chemotherapy. Despite everything, Barberie had a relatively positive attitude.
"You've had 20 amazing years of red carpets and beautiful boobs and let's say beauty," Barberie recalled.
However, to save her life, she had to brace for a big change.
"We're going to chop your boobs off and we're going to make you bald and you're going to look like Uncle Fester because the truth is when you have chemo you bloat up because of all the steroids," she said. "I got huge."
She was OK with it all.
"I remember my oncologist said 'A good attitude is half the battle,'" Barberie said. "I'm like 'Oh then I've got this.'"
Cancer, divorce and more: Facing a financial toll
However, she couldn't escape a very dark cloud.
"It was the financial stuff that was such a heavy," Barberie said.
Her divorce and cancer treatment took a toll on her finances. While dealing with chemo, Barberie discovered that her television fortune was gone.
"People are like 'How did you have no idea?'" she said. "Well, I'm horrible at math and I trusted somebody else to do everything for me ... I was in the dark about where I was."
Faced with stacks of bills and little income, Barberie dropped into a deep depression.
"I remember times when I was going to Cedars for my cancer markets and hoping that the cancer was coming back," she said. "I couldn't see myself out of my financial. I was going crazy but I was too chicken to do anything and I wouldn't hurt my children like that. My kids would hate me."
Now, Barberie said she regrets those thoughts.
"I thought, 'Well, if the cancer came back they can't hate me, right?" she said. "When I look back, shame on me for thinking that way."
Barberie was forced to sell her home to pay off her debts.
"Am I going to be homeless?" Barberie recalled thinking at the time. "How am I going to take care of my kids? I freaked out ... I was completely down and out."
The former TV host said she hid her fears and struggles from her children.
"Putting on a face every day for the kids, like everything was great, but going in the shower and completely losing it," Barberie said.
"I've lost everything to gain everything"
However, Barberie never hid her truth from her social media followers. In fact, she shared it all.
"My Instagram family, they would lift me up talking to me about their issues and they could relate," she said. "All of a sudden things started turning around. They would send me groceries — that's how bad things were ... They would say you would help me in the mornings and it would make me cry."
Another significant factor in her recovery was Malibu wellness guru nurse Melanie Lekkos, who cleaned up her diet. She also started Barberie on GLP-1 injections to curb cravings.
"We've taken a lot of weight off of her," Lekkos said.
Barbarie lost at least 40 pounds while following Lekkos' treatment plan. She's been cancer-free for five years now and getting back into shape. However, the weight-loss journey has slowed down a bit because of lingering leg pain.
"I was walking on a cane for a long time and that was a little inhibiting," she said. "I was like 'OK, I guess this is it, I'm on a cane.' But, I'm getting so much better."
Recovering from her health struggles, Barberie reflected on everything she endured.
"I've lost everything to gain everything," she said. "I live in an apartment now. It's probably the size of the bedroom I used to have. I'm so much happier."
Barberie hopes to help other women cope with cancer and the life challenges that come with a diagnosis.
"All I knew was how to talk to people," she said. "I see myself coming back. It's a struggle but when you get to the other side life is good again."
