Happy ending: Amanda Holden's difficult years
Congratulations flooded in for Amanda Holden yesterday after the pretty blonde Britain’s Got Talent presenter gave birth to 6lb 1oz Hollie Rose. Then less than 24 hours later news broke that the star “nearly died”.
We’ve all seen Amanda Holden looking glossy and gorgeous at a BGT judge and saying kind things however awful the performance – never ruffled or ungracious.
So perhaps on the face of it, Amanda is easy to dismiss as one of those successful stars who lives that kind of perfect life where everything seems to come easily. There were pictures of her with her handsome husband and beautiful, smart daughter Lexi.
But don’t underestimate Ms Holden. The few public facts hint at a story of gut-wrenching misery and courage on the journey to holding newborn Hollie.
Everywhere you turn these days celebs are telling all about their agonies, addictions, breakups and messy lives. But not Amanda.
You see, she is an old-school star – working hard to make high-profile loveliness look effortless and not whinging about it. In fact, showing grace and gratitude for what she’s got.
A REAL TROUPER
When Lexi was born in 2006, Amanda needed an emergency Caesarean section due to a low-lying placenta. Not a huge drama by the standards of today’s modern medicine, but probably not what the new mum had in mind. Many women struggle to cope with the aftermath of unexpectedly needing a major operation.
Then later we find that Amanda had a miscarriage weeks before the BGT finals in 2010. No one watching her gracious performances got a clue about her broken heart or the physical turmoil her hormones were wreaking.
Later that year, she announced another pregnancy, everyone cheered and she bloomed. As she turned out for the audition stages of Britain’s Got Talent, everyone jostled for a look at her growing bump.
Then disaster struck, the little boy she was carrying had died. Amanda endured the barely imaginable horror of delivering a child you know you have lost.
It’s an experience that few who have endured can talk about without shedding tears, even years after.
Later she admitted: “It was without doubt the blackest period of my life. You never think that it might happen to you. I was an absolute mess.”
Yet only two short months later, she was back in high heels and hair lacquer presenting live BGT shows without a wrinkle. Think about it, she didn’t just have to put herself up for scrutiny she had to face hopefuls she last saw when she was pregnant and watch footage of herself with a bump evaluating performances. It must have taken every reserve of courage to do that.
But then, against lengthening odds as she was 40, Amanda announced she was expecting again.
To be pregnant after losing a child is a double-edged affair. You hardly dare to hope that one day you will have a live baby to take home and you know that at any minute it could end in blood and tears again. Imagine how that feels.
But then, this time, so close to the finishing line, with the stakes so very high, Amanda new something wasn’t right. She took herself to hospital and Hollie was born.
But they weren’t out of the woods – the actress needed transfusion after transfusion after haemorrhaging– while tiny Hollie had to be helped to breathe. A frightening end to a terrifying pregnancy.
While it’s important to remember that having a child is often not the simple, straightforward lifestyle choice, Amanda has endured more than anyone should reasonably expect. Yet, she has never complained, never been anything less than professionally perfect.
As Amanda will consider herself lucky and show gratitude for her two daughters, Lexi and Hollie are lucky to have such a remarkable woman as their mother.
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