Michelle Heaton helped raise awareness for a cause close to her heart on Monday evening as the Eve Appeal party got underway in London.

The former singer looked stunning in a fitted burgundy dress following her arrival at Claridge’s Hotel for the annual fundraising event, which helps finance research programme the Department of Women’s Cancer at University College London (UCL).

Michelle, 35, teamed the distinctive lace number with a pair of nude peep-toe heels, while a stylish mottled handbag rounded things off.

Photo: GraziaDressAU celebrity dresses

A show of support: Michelle Heaton attended The Eve Appeal fundraising party at Claride's Hotel in London on Monday evening

The Liberty X star was a present to support the cause which is close to her heart, following her double mastectomy in 2012.

She made the decision to have her breasts removed after discovering she carried the faulty BRAC2 gene, meaning that she has an 80 per cent chance of developing the deadly disease.

The diagnosis also led to her most recent operation, a hysterectomy last month, as a preventative against ovarian cancer and Michelle recently revealed her latest health drama has proved to be tougher than she expected.

Speaking to OK! magazine, she said: 'I’m in a lot of pain and I can’t hold my children, but I don’t have time to feel sorry for myself.

'I realise what I’ve done is for my husband and my children so that they’re never wifeless and motherless.'

Despite the physical agony she's in, the mother-of-two - who is married to Irish businessman Hugh Hanley - admitted that the hardest part of the whole process is not being able to have any more children.

She added: 'The big thing was getting my head around the fact I couldn’t have more children.

When you come around and you’ve dealt with the fact you can’t have any more children, you’re not crying over that anymore because I’m not one for regrets.

'Now it’s the realisation that more recovery is needed than I thought.'

Launched in 2002, The Eve Appeal is helping to fund research into cancer treatments aimed at benefiting women across the world.

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