Caitlyn Jenner has been incredibly transparent over the last few years, sharing with the public her transition journey as well as her relationships with her Kardashian family members. But in a new video, shared to her personal YouTube account on August 31, Caitlyn got very candid about her struggles with skin cancer, and an operation she underwent to circumvent the disease. While going through her makeup routine and applying foundation to her face and neck, Caitlyn explained that she had a “basal cell carcinoma” removed around her cheek, which left a scar. Then, she divulged one worrisome blemish she had on the “tip of my nose.”
“I had to go in and get it cut out,” she shared around the seven-minute mark of the video. “They cut it out, made a 10 millimeter hole, then I had to drive across town, go to a plastic surgeon, and he cut all this ‘S’ thing all the way down my nose, took all the skin off my nose. [The doctor] reattached it, because there’s no skin to cover the hole — the guy did an amazing job — and, really, you couldn’t even see it,” she explained. “You couldn’t see the scars, you couldn’t see anything.”
Unfortunately, while tapping her video, Caitlyn noticed a “little red spot exactly in the same spot” as her last blemish. “That’s kind of scary,” she admitted. However, the reality TV star, 70, did assure her fans that, in the next episode of her YouTube series, viewers might accompany her to the dermatologist office to get the blemish examined. With total honesty, Caitlyn prefaced the details of her past procedure by confessing to viewers that she has “had issues with skin cancer. When I was young, growing up, I lived in the sun.”
Prior to her transition, Caitlyn was widely known for her athletic ability, even earning a gold medal at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games in the decathlon. As such, she spent so much of her time outside, playing sports and “running track” to start her career. “Back then, growing up [in the] ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, nobody wore sunscreen,” she continued. “Well, unfortunately now I’m paying the price.” But it was so refreshing to see Caitlyn be open about the whole ordeal.
In an attempt to “get ahead” of paparazzi sharing pictures of her following a 2018 procedure on her nose for another skin scare, Caitlyn took to Instagram on March 20, 2018 with an important message. The photo highlighted the tip of Caitlyn’s nose — which was inflamed — but turned the moment into a public service announcement. “I recently had to get some sun damage removed from my nose. PSA — always wear your sunblock!” Fans are glad to see Caitlyn looking great, but even happier to know that she is using her platform to highlight something so vital.