Vanessa Bayer is sharing how her family used humor to deal with her leukemia diagnosis as a child.
While appearing on SiriusXM’s Where Everybody Knows Your Name podcast, the Saturday Night Live alum, 43, recalled how her dad, Todd, would often use her diagnosis as an excuse to help get him out of some sticky situations.
“I know it was horrible for them [my parents] but they were able to have some fun with it, too,” Bayer explained to host Ted Danson. “My dad would call it ‘dropping the L bomb’ when he would use my leukemia as … like, he did get pulled over for speeding once — and by the way this was years after I was done with treatment — and he said like, ‘My daughter has leukemia and I can’t stop thinking [about it], sorry.’ ”
Bayer, who had lymphoblastic leukemia as a teenager, continued, “And he didn’t get the ticket and he came home and he was like, ‘I dropped the L bomb.’ People, we would come home with examples all the time left and right of like, ‘Hey, I said you had leukemia and they gave me this thing for free.’ ”
“I’m sure it was horrible for them but they were able to get themselves at times you know when they were with me to that place when I needed it,” she added.
Back in April 2022, the comedian shared how she would also use her leukemia to her advantage during an appearance on Today.
“I loved the special treatment that I got and I sort of used my illness to … you know, I got the perks out of it and I’d come into school late and I got a free pass and I got out of gym class, and what’s better than that,” Bayer explained.
That same month, Bayer, who left SNL in 2017 after seven years, also told Entertainment Tonight that her battle with cancer inspired her Showtime series, I Love That for You.
“This character had childhood leukemia and I had childhood leukemia,” Bayer told the outlet. “I would sort of use the fact that I was sick to get special treatment and I would sort of capitalize on the perks of having cancer.”
“I thought it would be fun to do something where I explored that element about it,” she said of I Love That for You. “We sort of love the special treatment that we get and when that time is over, when people forget about it, we’re like, ‘Well, where’s my special treatment?’ ”
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New episodes of SiriusXM’s Where Everybody Knows Your Name premiere Wednesdays on the SiriusXM app and wherever podcasts are available.
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