Zoë 'Zoella' Suggs Invited Her Fans To Watch Her Take A Live Smear Test

YouTuber Zoella has filmed herself getting a live smear test to educate her followers and subscribers on the potentially life-saving procedure.

Zoella - real name Zoë Sugg - said that the idea came about after meeting with Jo'sCervical Cancer Trust and learning that attendance is at a 20-year low.

The 29-year-old explained she had decided to film her own test to encourage women to book in their smears and help people feel "a little bit more at ease" at the idea of the procedure.

Zoë begins filming in the car joking, "In the ten years of blogging this is a moment," adding: "Here's me thinking I've overshared... then I bring you into a smear."

She then takes her 5 million subscribers into the clinic where they meet nurse Jenny, who has been doing the procedure for 20 years.

Zoë goes through a Q&A with Jenny, asking her commonly asked questions about the smear test (most of which you can also find the answers to via the NHS here) that she'd pooled in from her 9.7 million Instagram followers beforehand.

Then vlogger goes through the procedure herself as her two colleagues help film, from removing her underwear to lying on the nurse's bed with her feet in the stirrups.

Nurse Jenny then talks Zoe through the different apparatus she'll be using and what each thing is used for, from the speculum (which comes in five different sizes) to the brush that is used to collect cells.

Next, the nurse begins Zoë's test - which takes a mere 48 seconds.

"There is a bit of blood," says nurse Jenny as she removes the brush. "The reason for the blood is because you're on the pill. When you're on the combined pill you often do bleed."

After the test, Zoë sits Jenny down once more to discuss the next steps. Jenny explains Zoe will wait now 12 weeks for her results and explains that if her sample came back showing any HPV (the virus linked to cervical cancer), she would be contacted by the colposcopy department who may ask her in for more tests.

Zoë then sits her female colleagues down for a discussion about the smear test and their experiences of it.

Sharing the video on her Instagram, Zoë tapped shocking stats that show one in four women skip the cervical screening, with a third of those aged 25 to 29.

In March this year, the government launched a nationwide cervical cancer campaign due to attendance being at a 20-year low.

Zoella, big respect for doing this!

Featured Image Credit: YouTube/ Zoe Sugg

Topics: Life, Health

Ciara Sheppard

Ciara is a freelance journalist working for Tyla. After graduating from the University of Sussex, Ciara worked as a writer at GLAMOUR Magazine and later as the Assistant Editor of Yahoo Style UK.

@ciarasheppard