Sharon Osbourne has undergone a preventive double mastectomy over fears she could develop breast cancer.

Ozzy Osbourne's wife, who battled colon cancer in the early 2000s, was horrified to discover she has a genetic mutation which raises her chances of developing the disease, so she decided to have surgery.

She tells Britain's Hello! magazine, "As soon as I found out I had the breast cancer gene, I thought: 'The odds are not in my favour'. I've had cancer before and I didn't want to live under that cloud: I decided to just take everything off, and had a double mastectomy."

The reality Tv star, whose son Jack became a first-time dad to daughter Pearl earlier this year (12), insists she had no doubts about undergoing the operation - which lasted 13 hours - as she wants to live a long and happy life with her family.

She adds, "For me, it wasn't a big decision, it was a no-brainer. I didn't want to live the rest of my life with that shadow hanging over me. I want to be around for a long time and be a grandmother to Pearl.

"I didn't even think of my breasts in a nostalgic way, I just wanted to be able to live my life without that fear all the time. It's not 'pity me', it's a decision I made that's got rid of this weight that I was carrying around."