Amanda Holden on moment she was told her son died: ‘I had no control over myself’

Amanda has proven her tenacity time and time again

Alongside a successful career in showbiz, Britain’s Got Talent judge and all-round media personality Amanda Holden has suffered a number of personal setbacks.

She’s known for her provocative outfits, and she’s not one to shy away from making a statement.

However, the star’s heart was left entirely shattered when she suffered the loss of her baby son Theo in 2011…

The BGT judge has experienced tragedy during childbirth several times (Credit: Splash News)

Amanda Holden lost her son Theo at seven months pregnant

Tragedy struck Amanda and her husband Chris Hughes when their unborn son Theo tragically died while still in the womb.

Seven months into her pregnancy, the TV star drove herself to hospital after realising that he had stopped moving.

She recalled the sequence of events on the BBC’s Dear NHS Superstars special, which aired in August 2020, in the wake of the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Luckily for us, an obstetrician was coming past and Jackie [a midwife] said to the obstetrician: ‘Please can you go in, I can’t hear the patient’s baby’s heartbeat,’” Amanda said.

“And then I heard this guttural screaming. It was the most bizarre thing that’s ever happened to me because it was me. I didn’t know I was doing it. I had no control over myself, I thought it was another person making the noise.

“All these women were holding me, calming me down. I forgot entirely that I’d have to get the baby out and I’d have to give birth to our son.”

Remembering Theo

Amanda speaks about Theo often. On his birthday, she usually shares a remembrance post on social media. In 2023, she shared a picture of his tiny footprints, taken after he was born.

She wrote a heartbreaking caption to accompany the post. It read: “We love you Theo. Never ever forgotten.

In 2022, Amanda also revealed the triggering comment a doctor made to her after her baby died.

Amanda said on her Heart radio show at the time: “We lost our baby Theo at 28 weeks. They very sensitively moved me into another room so I could deliver him without having to hear the lovely babies screaming on a normal ward.”

However, she added: “I remember the lady afterwards as well when we went for a chat also said: ‘I know you’re going home empty handed,’ is what she said to me. So I felt like some sort of game show contestant, so it’s all of that language.”

Amanda has been a regular fixture on our TV screens for years (Credit: BBC/YouTube)

Her own heart stopped beating for 40 seconds while giving birth to daughter Hollie

Besides Theo, Amanda Holden has two children: Alexa “Lexi” Louise Florence, born January 21, 2006 and Hollie Rose, born January 23, 2012.

While delivering Hollie, Amanda suffered a severe bleed. She fell into a coma, and for 40 seconds, her heart stopped.

She wrote in her autobiography No Holding Back that her placenta had attached itself to her bladder. This meant that, when they lifted it out, it “snagged a large artery and ruptured it,” she wrote.

“I had haemorrhaged and was bleeding to death.”

On a separate occasion, she recounted the experience on Heart, saying she “did pass away for 40 seconds”.

“And then I went into a coma. But the NHS were there holding my hand and my husband’s hand, who I feel sorry for him to be honest he went through it, watching it all.”