A year on from announcing their relationship, Robin Bailey has shared the painful news that her partner Sean Pickwell is battling liver cancer.

“A couple of weeks ago we got the awful news that he had liver cancer,” Bailey announced via her Triple M breakfast show alongside co-hosts Ed Kavalee and Greg Martin on Thursday.

Bailey, who has previously described Pickwell as “the guy who has brought joy back into my life,” said he will undergo surgery to treat the cancer next week.

Addressing what Kavalee called, “the big elephant in the room in Australia," Bailey also discussed the estimated $10,000 out-of-pocket cost Pickwell will face following his treatment, despite having private health insurance.

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"It suddenly dawned on both of us we hadn’t asked the question about how much it was going to cost him to get this cancer treated,” she said, adding, “The potential of getting healthy is based on how much you can afford.”

Bailey’s husband of 16 years and father to her three sons, Tony Smart, tragically died after a long battle with depression in 2014.

The couple first met over 25 years ago when Pickwell was Bailey's boss in a former radio gig. Both happily in relationships, the pair maintained a professional friendship but had been out of touch for a number of years before they bumped into one another at an industry event in late 2015.

“It just started up as a friendship and texting and so on,” Bailey told Mamamia's Mia Freedman in November.

“He’d separated [from his wife] a while back, so he was more open in some ways, and I think because he was in the industry there were a lot of boxes ticked because I knew him. I felt safe. And he got my world."

Bailey continued, "I think I just needed someone to give a shit. For me. And he absolutely does. He is such a kind, kind lovely man. He doesn’t interfere in my life, but he gets it."

Our thoughts, prayers and positive vibes are all being sent Robin and Sean's way.

Mamamia has reached out to Bailey for comment.