MAFS' Ella Ding reveals she had to have an emergency operation after finding abnormal cells during a smear test

Married At First Sight's Ella Ding has revealed she had to have emergency operation after a pap smear test led doctors to find abnormal cells in her body.

The 28-year-old pleaded with fans to get tested in a candid video shared to Instagram on Thursday, as she shared her health journey with her thousands of followers.

Ella confirmed she wanted to share her story to reduce the stigma in the topic, and explained that while what happened was "scary at the time" the test quite possibly saved her life.

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"Us women, we have to get pap smears. This is something that isn't spoken about ever amongst of girls, friends and family," she began.

"The past four years, I've had to get a pap smear every 12 months because I was having the abnormality of my cells come up every 12 months.

"It's a virus, basically. Your body either gets rid of the virus on its own, or if it doesn't go away on its own in a certain amount of time you have to have a biopsy."

During a cervical screening appointment, a small sample of cells are taken from one's cervix, which are then sent to a lab to be analysed.

If there's no HPV infection then you don't need another screening for five years. If there is a HPV infection another screening is needed in 12 months, as a positive diagnosis can be a precursor to cervical cancer.

If this is clear – meaning your body has gotten rid of the HPV virus itself – then you won't need to be screened again for five years.

However, if positive or abnormal cells are found then your doctor will refer you to a specialist for more tests.

Ella said that she went to have a biopsy done 12 months ago.

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"It came back that I actually had stage two, I think, of the cervical cancer cell growth," she continued.

"At the time, it was Covid and I was going to all the appointments on my own. It was a very uncomfortable thing to do for a woman, to get these biopsies.

"They take skin from your cervix lining, and [although] it is very uncomfortable it's the reality of being a woman. You need to talk about it so people are more aware of it."

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Ella said she had no idea what the procedure was at the time, and had no friends who had endured anything similar.

"I ended up having to have an emergency operation on my cervix," she said.

"This was during Covid lockdown so I was doing it all by myself."

The reality star said she later told two of her friends about what happened, and they went to get their pap smears immediately.

"They had the same thing, and had to get biopsies and had to get the operation" she said.

"It's super common, and it can kill you if you don't catch it at an early stage. It can literally kill you.

"Everything was fine, I actually had my final biopsy two days before my wedding on MAFS as well. So I think the moral of today's story telling is – get everything checked.

"Especially if you are a woman and you're putting off your pap smears. It was scary at the time as I didn't know what was happening, but it's not so scary once you actually have the answers and a treatment plan.

"Get your pap smears, talk about it. It's just so important. Just get it all done, and stay on top of it."

Stream every episode of Married At First Sight for free on 9Now.