Chadwick Boseman's widow Simone opens up about his four-year cancer battle

Chadwick Boseman's widow Simone has opened up about his four-year cancer battle.

The Black Panther star died in 2020 aged 43, shocking and devastating fans after he kept his colon cancer diagnosis private.

Two years on from his death - and with the release of sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever imminent - his widow Simone Ledward Boseman has reflected on their relationship and his career.

The couple first met following the release of 2014 biographical drama Get On Up, in which he played James Brown, when the actor attended a tribute concert celebrating the singer at the Hollywood Bowl.

The 31-year-old said she 'fell for him pretty quick', and sitting down with Whoopi Goldberg on The View, she opened up about how fortunate she feels to have had a special relationship with Boseman.

She said: "I can't believe that I was so lucky. I can't believe that I got to love this person and I also got them to love me too.

"Sure, he was an actor, and there was a lot of fun stuff that we got to do. But he was an artist."

She continued: "He was an artist, and he was a leader and he was a king. And that I got to be by his side for that - that he chose me to be by his side for that - is just the greatest blessing.

"Even with the pain of his loss, now I still get to have this beautiful spirit relationship with him.

"And that, while it's difficult to accept, is also beautiful because he's an ancestor now. He is, and he is never leaving me."

She added that he was one-of-a-kind, saying: "He was just the smartest, most caring, most genuine, most just real, authentic, truth in everything - like nobody that I had ever met."

Following his diagnosis in 2016, Simone said they had to be 'very, very careful' to keep it under wraps..

"There was always some level of concern," she said. "But we really do have a very, very trusted circle of people that were there to support him, and support me, and help us, you know, do the best that we could with the challenging time."

Throughout this period, Simone said her husband struggled not knowing how long he would have to achieve his ambitions.

"I think that the hardest thing was wondering if he was going to have enough time to do all the work that he wanted to do, because he was very clear on what he needed to do," she said.

"I think that like any human person, we all have fear, we all have doubt - we want to know that we're doing the right thing," she continued.

"And I think that there were a lot of times for him where he felt like he didn't have someone that could give him the answers. But that is really a lifelong lesson in knowing that the answers don't exist outside of yourself - that you're the only one with the answers."

Topics: Celebrity, Film and TV

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey