Amanda Holden: her children, PTSS and Christmas traditions

How much do you about talent show judge Amanda Holden? Read on to find out more...

Who is Amanda Holden?

Amanda is is a British actress, singer, TV presenter and talent show judge, best known as a judge on Britain's Got Talent right from when it began in 2007.

Amanda Holden's children

Amanda has two daughters with her husband, record producer Chris. Alexa who was born in 2006 and Hollie who was born in 2012. In between having her two daughters, Amanda also suffered a miscarriage of a son at 16 weeks in 2010.

Sadly the couple suffered further heartbreak when they lost their baby son, Theo, in 2011, after he was stillborn at seven months. Speaking about Theo, Amanda told the Daily Mirror: "When the girls are playing footy I imagine Theo out there with them. One of them is in goal, the other two racing around... and I wonder what he would look like now."

In 2018 the TV star announced she had set up a fund known as Theo's Hope via baby charity Tommy’s which aims to help provide special bereavement ­coun­­­­sellors at all UK maternity units.

Amanda Holden and PTSS

Amanda Holden has always been very open about the trouble she had conceiving and giving birth to her two daughters, but it now emerges the Britain’s Got Talent judge, 43, has suffered from post-traumatic stress syndrome since having her second child. The actress and TV presenter revealed to the Radio Times that she felt like she had ‘fought a war’ after having severe birth complications with Hollie.

‘I’ve had therapy and was told I suffered from post-traumatic stress syndrome,’ she told the magazine. ‘I assumed that was what people had in Afghanistan, and I haven’t fought a war. But maybe I have in a way.’ Amanda, who previously campaigned for the rights of miscarriage sufferers, has previously spoken out about how she almost died after Hollie was delivered by caesarian section. ‘I delivered her and I saw her cry. I thought, “This is totally amazing”. It was everything I had dared to dream of. Then they very calmly said there’s a lot of bleeding so we’re putting you under general anesthetic,’ she explained in 2012.

Although Amanda’s is an extreme case, PTSS can affect any mother who feels out of control during her labour and birth. Talking through your experience with a specialist midwife can help new mums take back their control and process what happened in a safe, secure environment.

Amanda Holden on motherhood

"Motherhood has changed me. It’s turned out to be all I thought it would be and more. It opens you up as a person, because you’re more vulnerable. As much as I like to think that I was empathetic to the world’s problems before I had children, more than ever now I’m aware that this is the world my children live in. These days I never think ‘oh, that’s happening in another country, it’s nothing to do with us’: I have more understanding and empathy because I’m a mother.

More Amanda Holden news

Amanda Holden's unusual breakfast hack

Getting your tot to eat breakfast without coco pops ending up on the carpet can be a struggle, but Amanda Holden had an unusual way of getting daughter Hollie to behave in the morning when she was younger. The mum of two let her then-toddler wear lipstick to encourage her to eat her breakfast.

‘Hollie is obsessed with lipstick,’ she said back in 2014. ‘She won’t do anything before she has her lippy on. But it means she eats her breakfast.’

Amanda also revealed that her older daughter Lexi, couldn't recognise her without makeup. ‘Lexi once said to me “Mummy you need to put make up on, I couldn’t recognise you” and I thought “God you sound like Simon Cowell now, this is not good”,’ she says.

Amanda Holden on Christmas

"Every single member of the family, including the cat, has a Christmas stocking. We have a lot of family traditions. We leave glitter on the lawn so the reindeers can see where to land and which house has got magic in it. We do all the traditional things but for me it’s the whole build-up to Christmas that matters. I like it when the radio stations start playing festive songs and I love the Christmas ads from all the big names. Christmas Day can often be a bit of a flop so the build-up is the best thing about it!"

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