Dame Lynda Topp says her run for Ashburton District Council is about stepping up and giving something back to the community that's supported her.
Dame Lynda told 1News part of the reason behind her candidacy was that she needed a goal, and she was filling in her electoral enrolment papers when she though to herself, "I wonder if I should run for council?"
"I've just gone through six months of chemo, which is a bit of a rough ride and I thought, 'I'm ready for a challenge, I'm ready to get out there and do something'."
READ MORE: Topp Twins defiant after cancer diagnoses
Dame Lynda said she'd rung her 92-year-old mother, who told her to "go for it", and that her sister Dame Jools Topp - the other half of the famous Topp Twins - "thought it was pretty funny that I was going to go for real".
One of Dame Lynda's characters, Camp Mother, satirically ran for Auckland mayor in 1998.
"It was more of a publicity stunt at that point, just to try and lift that whole idea of people having a go at running for council and mayoralties," Dame Lynda said. "Now that I'm a little bit older, now it's for real."
"It was a hoot and then what happened was, they did a poll, and it looked like Camp Mother was actually getting up there with quite a few votes, and I was invited to five pretty big debates, and it was deemed by the media that Camp Mother had won four of them."
READ MORE: Topp Twins reveal they both have breast cancer
Dame Lynda recently told RNZ "we pulled out as the polling was looking like we might go close to being the mayor of Auckland".
This time around, she's running for Ashburton's Western Ward, standing against incumbents Liz McMillan and Rodger Letham.
"The locals have been amazing here," she said of those in Methven. "It's an amazing community and they've been so supportive to my lovely wife Donna and myself over the last six months, and maybe it's time for me to step up and give a little bit back to the community."
But Dame Lynda says that she's still eager to perform as well, and that it was "such a hard thing" for the Topp Twins having the performance side of their career "wrecked" by the Covid-19 pandemic and their battles with cancer.
Dame Lynda spoke exclusively to 1News’ Donna-Marie Lever about her latest challenge. (Source: 1News)
"Getting that back onto the boards, that's a real goal for us."
They are hoping to perform in Auckland on November 7, at a tribute show being held for their 40th anniversary.
"The idea of all those characters coming back, that's important to us.
READ MORE: Dame Lynda throws Topp-hat in ring for Ashburton council
"I haven't put Camp Mother's jumpsuit on since I had my double mastectomy, and one of the reasons for that is, I don't know if that jumpsuit's actually going to stay up... There's nothing to hold it up any more.
"But Ken and Ken, they're pretty excited about it because Ken's jacket that he's worn for many years, I put that on after I had my double mastectomy and for the first time in Ken's life, he could actually do the button up."
Dame Lynda's chemotherapy has also damaged the nerve endings in her feet, but she says "that's not gonna stop me". She was using a walking stick, and had stopped chemotherapy to avoid further damage. She was looking at natural treatments.
READ MORE: Topp Twins share cancer battle update, thank fans for support
"I'm gonna do what's best for my body and I'm gonna do what I need to do to make myself happy, and if I want to be a councillor or if I want to get back on the boards then that's up to me and I have to do that.
"There are three of us in the race and only two of us can get into council so for one of us it will be tears before bedtime, and I'm just hoping maybe that I'm not that one."
See more of Donna-Marie Lever's interview with Dame Lynda on 1News at 6pm
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