Alicia Witt found out she had cancer just as she was heading to a birthday party.

The 48-year-old actress - who has been sober since her diagnosis - was planning to attend a friend's birthday bash in November 2021 and was heading out the door when she got a call from her doctor who gave her the "shock" diagnosis.

She told People: "I've not had a drink now since Nov. 4, 2021, which is the day I was on my way out the door to my dear friend Cindy Owen's birthday party. I had a bottle of whiskey because I knew somebody who was going to be there who loves fine whiskey and I loved whiskey, and I also had a bottle of wine for Cindy. I was looking forward to having drinks like I always did. I got the call as I was leaving to go to the party, that to my doctor's shock, the biopsy that I'd had done showed that I had breast cancer.

"And so I texted my friend and I said, "I'm so sorry, I don't think I'm going to be able to make it to your party."

"I sat with that and started the process of learning all that I could. So I went through the recommended treatments. I had a unilateral mastectomy, which was recommended, and I got the all-clear, thank God, at the end of April."

The '88 Minutes' star went on to add that whilst she thought she was "very healthy" before her diagnosis, upon getting the all-clear she decided to give up drinking for good after realising what a health "risk" it can be.

She said: "I was already a very healthy person by most measures, I'd say, so I had to look at what I was doing that maybe exacerbated this situation. I learned just how much of a risk drinking was, and not only that but after you've got that all clear, you've got to change. You can't go back to everything you were doing before."