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Rita Wilson Is Officially Cancer-Free! Says She’s ‘100 Percent’ Healthy And Is Getting Ready To Go On Tour With Her Band

By Aaron Homer
Published on: 02:57 PST, Dec 11, 2015

Rita Wilson is officially cancer-free and is gearing up to go on tour with her band, People is reporting.

Stepping out in front of the cameras at The Hollywood Reporter’s Women in Entertainment Breakfast presented by Lifetime on Wednesday, the 59-year-old Wilson gave the news.

“I am cancer free. I’m one hundred percent healthy!”

Now that she’s beaten cancer, the TV, movie and Broadway actress is focusing on a new phase of her multi-faceted career: music. Wilson has already released a CD, AM/FM in 2012, and she’s getting ready to hit the road with her backup band.

“I’ll start in New York at the Cafe Carlyle for two weeks on February 23rd. Then I have a couple weeks off, and then I start again at the end of March. I’ll go through all the April and part of May. It’s going to be hilarious. Me on a tour bus with my band members.”

Even better news for Rita: she’ll be joined on tour by her husband of nearly 30 years, Tom Hanks.

“[Tom has] already said, ‘I am coming on the tour bus!’ So I had to get one with a bigger bed. So that was important. He’s coming. He’s going to be on tour… He’s a roadie!”

All of this joy and laughter is likely welcome relief for someone who, as recently as a few months ago, was facing a life-or-death scare.

Back in March, Rita was working on Broadway opposite Larry David in the play, Fish In The Dark, when she received the news that she had breast cancer, according to MSN. In an emotional letter to fans shared by People, Wilson explained how she was diagnosed with invasive lobular carcinoma, and how, through diligence and following her gut (she says that getting a second opinion saved her life), she underwent a double masectomy and reconstructive surgery. At the time, she said the outlook was good.

“I am recovering and most importantly, expected to make a full recovery. Why? Because I caught this early, have excellent doctors and because I got a second opinion.”

In fact, so speedy was her recovery that she was back to work on Broadway a month later.

The devoutly religious Wilson – she’s a member of the Greek Orthodox Church – credit the prayers of her fans for her recovery.

Rita Wilson’s brush with breast cancer has helped her become an advocate for breast cancer research. She is donating her time and money to the Moffitt Cancer Center and encouraging women to undergo routine breast cancer screenings.

She’s also been an advocate for women in general. In March 2015, Rita joined Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, and several other women in sending an open letter to German chancellor Angela Merkel and the chair of the African Union, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. Saying “poverty is sexist,” the letter encouraged the two powerful political figures to focus on women in the fight against poverty, since women suffer the most from it.

“Put simply, poverty is sexist, and we won’t end it unless we face up to the fact that girls and women get a raw deal, and until leaders and citizens around the world work together for real change.”

As of this writing, it’s not clear if — or when — Rita Wilson intends to return to acting.

[Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for The Hollywood Reporter]

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