Suzanne Whang.
(Image credit: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)

House Hunters' longtime host Suzanne Whang died Tuesday, 13 years after being diagnosed with breast cancer, her longtime partner Jeff Vezain announced in a Friday Facebook post. She was 56.

Whang led the original iteration of the HGTV show from 1999 to 2007, starting out by appearing onscreen but eventually transitioning to fully narrating the show from offscreen. She also had recurring roles in a number of sitcoms and TV dramas, and often used what Vezain called her "audacious sense of humor" for standup comedy.

Whang was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006 and was given just six months to live. But she beat the disease and used it for comedic fodder, and lived cancer-free until about a year ago. Find Vezain's whole tribute to Whang below. Kathryn Krawczyk

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.