Amanda Holden turned to hypnotherapy to cope with grief after stillbirth of her son
Amanda Holden is a doting mum to daughters Alexa, 14, and Hollie, eight.
But few know that the TV star has also overcome the tragedy of losing her son Theo when he was stillborn in 2011.
In an interview today with The Sun, the 49-year-old actress and Britain’s Got Talent judge – who is married to record producer Chris Hughes – revealed that she turned to hypnotherapy to cope with the grief of losing her little boy.
She said: “There is not a day that goes by when I don’t think about Theo, especially when a new school year begins.
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“But after we first lost him, Chris and I were diagnosed with PTSD so we went and had some therapy about that, as anyone would.
“Chris was terribly British about it, went once and was like, ‘Right, I’m cured,’ whereas I continued, and then went to this amazing clinic run by a woman Called Zita West For Hypnotherapy.”
Holden added: “I just felt like everything was my fault, and I felt so responsible – what did I do wrong?”
She said she was convinced that without the treatment, she wouldn’t have had the “confidence” to try for another baby the following year.
According to the NHS, hypnotherapy uses hypnosis to try to treat conditions or change habits by getting patients into a deeply relaxed state where they have a heightened focus and concentration.
In 2012, Holden experienced the traumatic birth of her youngest daughter, during which she fell into a coma.
Speaking on her Heart Breakfast radio show in May, she said: “When I gave birth to Hollie, my eight-year-old daughter, who I know is listening, she was an emergency and I haemorrhaged basically.
“I actually 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!”
