Amanda Holden has revealed her daughter Lexi was rushed to hospital in a terrifying ordeal.
The Britain’s Got Talent judge, 53, said Lexi, 18, was sitting her A-levels at the time and spent days in hospital.
Amanda explained that Lexi had started developing “bloating and stomach cramps” which went on for weeks. The star said she put it down to “exam stress”.
Amanda Holden daughter
However, Amanda eventually took her daughter to her GP and they insisted on “taking blood samples and stool samples”.
She told The Sun that the results came back as a bacterial infection. Cultures were sent off to where they would be grown to “determine what bacteria it was”. This would then be able to determine which antibiotics to put Lexi on, Amanda said.
Amanda said she was in Spain filming at the time and started receiving calls from “various government officials”. She said this was because she had to fill out various forms about “what and where [Lexi] might have eaten”.
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The cultures came back saying it was VTEC E.Coli. This is a “very harmful strain of bacteria that’s very rare in humans,” Amanda explained.
However, Amanda said the family couldn’t work out how it had happened. Following questions from their doctor, Amanda said she was “having our rabbits and cat checked” in case Lexi had caught something from them.
We are praying there’s no long-term damage and just seeing how she gets on.
Lexi was also advised by the doctor to cut out meat and dairy from her diet – however, she’s vegetarian and doesn’t eat dairy either.
Amanda said Lexi’s condition then started to become worse despite being on antibiotics.
Amanda Holden on daughter’s health ordeal
She said: “I was driving back home one day and I had Hollie, my youngest, in the car with me when the doctor called and said: ‘I don’t want to alarm you Amanda, but Lexi’s bloods and everything else are through the roof. You need to check that her temperature doesn’t rise because she’s in danger of contracting sepsis.'”
After sleeping with Lexi in her bed and taking her temperature “every hour, on the hour,” Amanda sought advise from a friend the following day.
She explained: “In the morning, I spoke to my friend Pippa, one of the wonderful midwives who delivered our gorgeous stillborn boy Theo — she was the one who got me through all of that trauma and grief — and she advised us to rush Lexi to hospital. We went straight to Northwick Park Hospital — which specialises in tropical illness and bacterial infection — and we had the most incredible team there who put her on an antibiotic drip.”
Amanda said she and husband Chris were taking it turns being with Lexi at hospital. During this time, Amanda was also filming for BGT’s live shows.
Eventually, Amanda said they were told that Lexi was the 113th case in the country. As news of VTEC E.Coli filled the news, Amanda said they stayed quiet at the time to prevent causing “mass panic”.
Thankfully, Lexi became better and was let out of hospital after five days. However, she’s been back and forth since for more blood tests.
Amanda concluded: “She might now need an endoscopy and, worryingly, it could be she now has a sort of ongoing problem with her tummy. We are praying there’s no long-term damage and just seeing how she gets on.”
Amanda said Lexi is now eating properly and “out drinking with friends and having a fun time”.
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