Amanda Holden hasn’t had an easy ride when it has come to motherhood. After the birth of Lexi in 2006, she tragically suffered from a miscarriage in 2010 then went on to have complications during the birth of daughter Hollie in 2011, leading to her heart stopping for four minutes.
Despite that, Holden returned back to her job as a Britain’s Got Talent judge just three weeks later, sparking criticism from mothers across the country.
Speaking to The Daily Mail’s You magazine, she reveals that she went on popular parenting forum only to read comments about herself such as “spending time with your newborn is way more important than some s****y talent show” and “I’m sure she could afford to take a few more weeks off, let’s not pretend she’s desperate for money”.
“I visited Mumsnet because I thought, ‘Oh, that sounds like a nice site where you can get handy tips on weaning your baby and helpful advice,’” she says. “I thought it sounded like the perfect social medium; a support network for mums. But I discovered that it’s a lot of women criticising, judging and having a go at each other. What we need is a site that gives positive support instead of encouraging guilt by making women who aren’t able to breastfeed feel bad, or condemning women for going back to work.”
Explaining her decision to return to work, she says: “The normal in my house is Mummy doing Britain’s Got Talent. When I had been in hospital Lexi had seen me in such hideous circumstances that I decided I needed to get back to normal for her and for me. Mummy shoved on her eyelashes and went back on Britain’s Got Talent because that was normal. I took Hollie with me and we went to Birmingham and I just did three days.”
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Posted by Arabella Gibson.