Why Days of Our Lives’ Linsey Godfrey Applauds Suzanne Rogers for Sharing Her Cancer Story (Exclusive)

Days of Our Lives star Linsey Godfrey is proud of Suzanne Rogers for sharing her cancer journey with the world.

“She was a little private about it at first. I think we had a conversation where I was like, ‘If people don’t know, people won’t know. You’ll want people to know. You’ll find power in that,’” Godfrey, 37, exclusively shared with Us Weekly at Peacock’s Days of Our Lives 60th anniversary celebration on Saturday, November 8. “I think if you feel [that] it’s a secret, it feels like something awful that’s happening to you. When you talk about it, it feels like something amazing you’re overcoming.”

Last month, Rogers, 82, publicly revealed that she was recently diagnosed with stage II colorectal cancer. The actress — who plays Maggie Horton on the soap opera — completed her cancer treatment at the end of July and is resuming filming this month.

“For me with Suzanne, I encouraged her to be open about it,” Godfrey recalled to Us from The Garland Hotel in North Hollywood, California. “The amount of people that will look at Suzanne and push a little harder or fight a little bit harder, and know that they’re not alone. That’s so important.”

She continued, “It’s so important that we as people know that we’re not alone — whether it’s physical health, mental health, whatever it is. We’re all just people, right? We just need to not feel so alone all the time.”

As Rogers pushed through treatment and recovery, the actress was filled with support and encouragement from her Days of Our Lives family.

While walking the red carpet on Saturday night, the Daytime Emmy winner said she had calls and messages from several people “telling me they love me, and that I was in their prayers.”

“The prayers got me through it,” Rogers said. “My [Catholic] priest gave me a blessing the day before I started the chemo and radiation, and I think that helped with everything. I mean, I think that got me through it.”