Sad Details About HGTV Star Hilary Farr's Life

For many, Hilary Farr became like an extra member of their family after almost two decades on the beloved HGTV show, "Love It or List It." And while she's had superficial problems like how to spend her millions, the star has also had to deal with very serious issues. Farr reminded everyone that fame and riches don't protect you from the calamities of life when she provided fans with updates on her bout with COVID-19 in 2023, but she faced plenty of challenges before COVID came knocking at her door.

Farr used to dream of becoming a professional ballet dancer, even enrolling at the Royal Ballet School in London. But then she discovered theater, and she left her dancing days behind her. Her desire to work in show business is what eventually led her to meeting her future husband, producer Gordon Farr. The two got married in 1982, and had one son together, Josh Farr. By 2008, however, their marriage was on the rocks and they filed for divorce.

Despite keeping the details very private, Farr later admitted the divorce was hard on her. While delivering a speech at the Top Ten Event in Canada, Farr touched on that time in her life, calling it a "horrible, horrible divorce" (via Notable Life). She admitted that the experience left her angry and bitter, but she ended up using these negative emotions to her advantage, and shortly after, she landed the part in "Love It or List It." As Farr found success in the entertainment industry, she also faced numerous challenges behind the scenes, many of which she chose to go through alone.

In 2021, Hilary Farr opened up to the public about her breast cancer diagnosis for the very first time, almost 10 years after her first diagnosis in 2012. Her cancer was first discovered when she went for her annual mammogram — but it wasn't serious. Doctors told her the tumor was precancerous after performing surgery to remove it, and Farr thought she had dodged a bullet. She was wrong.

In 2014, doctors discovered another tumor, this time, the cancer had already spread. "I was in shock," she later told SurvivorNet. "I wasn't expecting that, well nobody is. There's no history of it in my family." Farr immediately had surgery, and again, she seemed to get off lightly. "I was signed off by the medical oncologist saying, 'You're done. You're fine. Off you go," Farr told People. But in 2015, another mammogram alerted doctors to yet another tumor. Fortunately for Farr, this tumor, like the first, was precancerous. She went into remission after her third surgery and has remained healthy so far.

Looking back at Hilary Farr's cancer journey, it's easy to assume that it was very straightforward, but that couldn't be further from the truth. As it happened, one of her doctors wasn't very thorough, and after she had surgery to remove the malignant tumor doctors discovered in 2014, her oncologist failed to inform her that she'd need to undergo radiation therapy.

Per the American Cancer Society, it's protocol to have patients undergo radiation after removing a malignant tumor because it can reduce chances of the cancer recurring. The only instances in which radiation therapy would not be recommended are when the patient is already immunocompromised, at an advanced age, or when the surgery is deemed to have removed all of the cancer. In Farr's case, none of these exceptions applied, and a few months after her second surgery, she got a call from the hospital asking why she never showed up for radiation therapy. "That's part of the story where I trusted and I didn't dig deeply enough. I could very well be in a very different situation now if it wasn't for the radiologist following up," she told SurvivorNet.

Speaking to People, Farr admitted that the phone call from the radiologist left her pretty shaken. She was behind schedule on her radiation therapy, and it put her at a disadvantage. "I felt absolute fury that someone could be so flippantly wrong. I could have been dead," she said. Farr eventually filed a complaint against the doctor in question, who retired shortly after.

While Hilary Farr knew her doctor had slipped up when they didn't tell her to get radiation therapy after her second breast cancer surgery, she told SurvivorNet she realized in the aftermath she should have pushed harder for information and answers. "What was in my control was to say, 'Wait, there should be other options. What are those other options?' And to really take more control," she said.

Farr admitted that part of not getting more informed about her condition had to do with her own fear. "Once you can face your fear, you know what you're dealing with, what you're grappling with, then you will not allow a doctor to say, 'You're all done, off you go!' You will be taking control which is so empowering," she said. Something else Farr learned the hard way during her journey with breast cancer was that you shouldn't try to cope with it alone — having your friends and family rally around you will make a big difference. "Thinking that you should keep it a secret or just power through doesn't help and it doesn't heal," she told People.

Because Farr was trying to deal with her breast cancer on her own and keeping it a secret from her co-workers, they would often be puzzled by her uncharacteristic behavior on set. Farr admitted that, on the days her radiation treatment got the best of her, she wasn't the best person to be around and would often take out her pain and frustration on her colleagues. "There were just so many repercussions of choosing to push through without telling everybody," she said.

In December 2020, fans mourned with Hilary Farr when she shared the devastating news that her longtime four-legged companion Mimi had died. Farr took to her website to share fond memories of Mimi's life amid her passing, writing, "The sadness I am feeling is overwhelming and my tears won't stop." She explained that Mimi had to get emergency euthanasia after she took a turn for the worse.

Mimi had lived a long life — Farr had her since 2003, and she would take Mimi with her everywhere she went, whether that was on vacations or long days on the set of "Love It or List It." She admitted that Mimi had been unwell for quite some time but always managed to pull through. "I gave her nightly massages, dabbed vaseline on her old dry nose and it seemed as though I could outsmart the grim reaper and keep her with me forever," Farr wrote.

In 2021, Farr shared another scary update on one of her dogs, Suki, with fans on Instagram. "This morning Suki didn't smile and wiggle and wag her tail. She stayed curled up on her bed, lethargic-looking at me for help. She wouldn't eat or drink," Farr wrote. She explained that she immediately took Suki to the vet, who diagnosed her with a high fever and ordered some blood tests. "I'm hoping her fever breaks and I can get her home by midnight. I'm a total blubbering wreck," she wrote. Luckily, Suki healed up just fine, and Farr regularly posts updates on their adventures together.

In 2023, Hilary Farr decided to say goodbye to HGTV's "Love It or List It," leaving many fans shocked, but when she spoke to Vulture, she revealed that her decision had been a long time coming. "It was becoming boring, and I don't want to be bored," she said. Farr previously hinted that she sometimes felt creatively bankrupt while working on the show during a speech she delivered at the Top Ten Event in Canada. She explained how she went through a period where she felt like she was just mindlessly churning out content for the show, and she didn't like how it felt. It seems this feeling only grew as time went on. "I've been doing the show for years and I have loved doing it. But in the last season, which we did in Canada, it just felt too much like work. It felt very stale. It's a very formulaic show," she told Vulture.

Speaking to People, Farr admitted that her previous cancer diagnosis also played a part in her decision. She simply realized that life was too short to keep doing something she's outgrown. "It was becoming too easy ... I was in a rut. It's been so many years. You want to feel that every day is something different and special and grasp for those challenges," she shared.