The actress was left devastated when her partner, Tom Mahoney, was diagnosed with cancer last year (09).

The couple later learned Mahoney is "100 per cent clear", and Cross is celebrating by helping to raise funds for other sufferers at the star-studded telethon, alongside celebrities including George Clooney, Reese Witherspoon and Adam Sandler.

She tells TVGuide.com, "You know what? Knock on wood, he (Mahoney) is absolutely 100 per cent clear at the moment. It's always checking, checking, checking for another year or so... One would like to go, 'Cancer, I don't know a thing about it.' But unfortunately, that's not the case, and I don't think I'm unique in that. Everybody is affected by someone with cancer.

"(At the telethon) I'm going to walk the carpet and then I'm introducing Lady Antebellum and Kris Kristofferson. And then I'll be working the phone bank for the rest of the night... It gets people to watch for the hour. People want to see celebrities that they're interested in, and hopefully they'll relate and want to pick up the phone and donate. It's just a way of keeping us all connected really. We're no better or worse."