'My mind went blank': TV personality reveals health scare after 'large tumour' found

TV personality and businesswoman Cassie Roma says she will be losing a kidney after a potentially cancerous tumour was discovered.

Roma, an entrepreneur known for her appearances on The Apprentice Aotearoa and Celebrity Treasure Island, said results from a “tummy scan” revealed that a tumour was found in her kidney with suspected renal cell carcinoma.

“Isn’t it weird how life changes on an otherwise routine Wednesday afternoon?” Roma wrote to her 16,000-plus followers on LinkedIn.

“Time stopped as the doctor gave my wife and me the heavy news. My mind went blank.”

Roma, who is married to Football Ferns great Maia Jackman, said more tests showed there was “no visible spread”.

She said she “wept and fell into the arms of my wife and best friend” after the “good news”.

The American-Kiwi will undergo surgery soon to “whip the kidney out”, but said the prognosis is promising and her “outlook is grateful”.

Roma said she was sharing the “grief and gritty stuff” because “life isn’t always a highlight reel”.

“Sharing the hard stuff helps us find each other.”

She thanked her wife, family and friends for their support: “I feel so loved”.

“Here’s to the next season. One kidney. A whole lot of life ahead,” she added.

Roma is a San Diego-born entrepreneur, life coach and TV personality who became widely known in New Zealand as an adviser on The Apprentice Aotearoa.

She was later a contestant on Celebrity Treasure Island, raising money for the Make a Wish foundation.

Roma and Jackson tied the knot this year, both donning double denim in an intimate seaside ceremony on Ōtama Beach in the Coromandel.