Sunrise star Edwina Bartholomew reveals shock living arrangement with husband that 'genuinely healed' their family: 'It was a decision we had to make'
Edwina Bartholomew has made a shock confession about her unique living situation with husband Neil Varcoe following her chronic myeloid leukemia diagnosis.
The Sunrise presenter, 41, told The Australian Women's Weekly on Wednesday that they only see each other on the weekends and public holidays.
Neil's chronic fatigue syndrome diagnosis prompted him to leave Sydney and relocate to regional New South Wales - a move she claims 'genuinely healed him'.
'That was a decision we had to make for ourselves a few years ago because what we were doing clearly wasn’t working,' she told the publication.
'He lives three hours away from us, and we see him on weekends and holidays and back and forth, but it’s been the best thing, and probably the only way we would have survived as a family.'
Edwina Bartholomew (pictured) has made a shock confession about her unique living situation with husband Neil Varcoe following her chronic myeloid leukemia diagnosis
The couple share two children, daughter Molly, five, and son Tom, three.
Last year, Edwina revealed to Stellar Magazine that she and Neil had entered a long-distance relationship after he moved out of the family home to become a farmer.
'My husband lives in the country with the dog and I live in the city with the kids,' she said.
'Each weekend, we traipse back and forth between the two or meet somewhere in the middle.'
It comes after Edwina shared an emotional cancer update at Marie Claire's International Women's Day luncheon in March.
The TV star got candid at the event about how CML - a type of blood and bone marrow cancer - had impacted her life.
'I was fortunate that I had a month where I knew about it before I told everyone. I had this experience without having to go through the trauma of chemotherapy,' Edwina began.
'[The cancer] was a gift, because it put things into perspective... I didn't have to go through a really intense experience of being "in" cancer and absorbed by it.'
The Sunrise presenter, 41, told The Australian Women's Weekly on Wednesday she only sees her husband Neil on the weekends and public holidays. Pictured with Neil and their daughter Molly, five, and son Tom, three
Edwina added she was extremely grateful her symptoms were manageable and she was able to continue with most of the activities in her daily life.
'I had a meeting with my specialist this week and I forgot to go get my blood test. So, it is not front of mind for me,' she said.
'I am so conscious of what a gift that is, that I have been able to continue on semi-normal... I haven't had to tell my young kids, because I still look the same. It's been a real re-think in slowing myself down.'
Edwina's diagnosis is a 'mild' form of leukaemia and can often be managed without having to undergo chemotheraphy.
