How Olivia Munn and Clea Shearer Are 'Intertwined' Because of Breast Cancer (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Olivia Munn, Clea Shearer.Photo:Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty; Arturo Holmes/Getty

Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty; Arturo Holmes/Getty

Not long afterClea Shearerfirst learned she had breast cancer in 2022, a friend of her husband’s reached out to see how she was doing.“Olivia was friends with my husband John, but she and I weren’t individual friends at that point,” theHome Editstar, 42, tells PEOPLE of actressOlivia Munn, 44. “But she reached out all the time. She would check in with John, she would check in with me. She was just so amazing and wonderful.“Olivia Munn and Clea Shearer in 2022.Clea Shearer/InstagramAnd then, less than a year later inFebruary 2023, Munn received shocking news — and Shearer had a chance to repay the kindness.“I was in New York and I got a phone call from her, and she was like, ‘I have just been diagnosed with breast cancer and I have 10 million questions,” Shearer says. “And I said, ‘Oh my God, I’m dropping everything. What can I do? Let me give you all the information I have.’ Olivia and I really have been intertwined now for a couple of years.“Olivia Munn after her 2023 breast cancer diagnosis.Olivia Munn/InstagramShearer was diagnosed with stage 2 invasive mammary carcinoma, an aggressive form of breast cancer, in March 2022.Months of chemotherapyand radiation followed, along with and six surgeries, including a double mastectomy and a recent procedure over the summer to remove her ovaries.Clea Shearer in February 2024, and during her cancer treatments.John Shearer; Clea ShearerShearer, who recently started filming a revamped season ofExtreme Makeover: Home Edition,which she will co-host along with Home Edit partnerJoanna Teplin, says going through cancer has allowed her to be a stronger support to others like Munn who are facing something similar. “I never give people advice necessarily, but I can speak from my own lived experience,” she says.That’s part of the reason Shearer recently partnered with drugmaker Eli Lilly to shareher story. “I remember at the very beginning of my cancer journey thinking, ‘I am going to make this cancer have a purpose,’ and I put that as my mission every single day,” Shearer says. “All I can do is share my own experience in hopes that that matters to people and is helpful to people. And I will continue to do that until my last breath.”

Not long afterClea Shearerfirst learned she had breast cancer in 2022, a friend of her husband’s reached out to see how she was doing.

“Olivia was friends with my husband John, but she and I weren’t individual friends at that point,” theHome Editstar, 42, tells PEOPLE of actressOlivia Munn, 44. “But she reached out all the time. She would check in with John, she would check in with me. She was just so amazing and wonderful.”

Olivia Munn and Clea Shearer in 2022.Clea Shearer/Instagram

Clea Shearer/Instagram

And then, less than a year later inFebruary 2023, Munn received shocking news — and Shearer had a chance to repay the kindness.

“I was in New York and I got a phone call from her, and she was like, ‘I have just been diagnosed with breast cancer and I have 10 million questions,” Shearer says. “And I said, ‘Oh my God, I’m dropping everything. What can I do? Let me give you all the information I have.’ Olivia and I really have been intertwined now for a couple of years.”

Olivia Munn after her 2023 breast cancer diagnosis.Olivia Munn/Instagram

Olivia Munn/Instagram

Shearer was diagnosed with stage 2 invasive mammary carcinoma, an aggressive form of breast cancer, in March 2022.Months of chemotherapyand radiation followed, along with and six surgeries, including a double mastectomy and a recent procedure over the summer to remove her ovaries.

Clea Shearer in February 2024, and during her cancer treatments.John Shearer; Clea Shearer

John Shearer; Clea Shearer

Shearer, who recently started filming a revamped season ofExtreme Makeover: Home Edition,which she will co-host along with Home Edit partnerJoanna Teplin, says going through cancer has allowed her to be a stronger support to others like Munn who are facing something similar. “I never give people advice necessarily, but I can speak from my own lived experience,” she says.

That’s part of the reason Shearer recently partnered with drugmaker Eli Lilly to shareher story. “I remember at the very beginning of my cancer journey thinking, ‘I am going to make this cancer have a purpose,’ and I put that as my mission every single day,” Shearer says. “All I can do is share my own experience in hopes that that matters to people and is helpful to people. And I will continue to do that until my last breath.”

source: people.com