Jill Martin, the correspondent for the “Today” show, has received a diagnosis for breast cancer, less than a week after testing positive for the BRCA gene.

Martin opted to get a double mastectomy as soon as she learned the results of her genetic test; however, an examination with an MRI before the procedure showed she had cancer. Martin is married to businessman Erik Brooks.

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“I am in shock, but at the same time I’m so grateful because it could be a very different story that we’re talking about,” Martin, 47, said in an interview. “Of course I’m devastated. You hear the C-word and you think the worst. But after you hear the word and you absorb it, you then have to be your own best friend. And also having the platform to share my story has given me strength, because I feel like while I’m healing, I will be able to help literally save lives. And if I save one life from this, then this process will have been worth it for me.”

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Who is Erik Brooks?

In September 2022, the TODAY lifestyle and business correspondent married businessman Erik Brooks. The wedding took place at the New York Public Library in New York City.

Martin, 46, in an interview, said that Brooks, 56, found her “many eccentricities ‘adorable,'” which is when she realized he was “The One.” She was “excited, grateful, and ready to dance the night away” with the couple’s wedding guests.

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She added, “We chose a location and a setup that worked for everyone in our family. When you get married later in life, making sure it is about everyone is so important.”

In May 2019, Martin got engaged to the founder of Ethos Capital in the Hamptons. The couple had been dating for about two years at the time. Martin, however, said that the couple broke up the following year, claiming in an interview that the COVID-19 pandemic made long-distance dating difficult. In November 2021, they reconnected and were engaged again.