Actress rushed to hospital after Graham Norton's joke
Brit actor Sheridan Smith has revealed how she suffered multiple seizures and was rushed to hospital after talk show host Graham Norton told a cruel joke about her.
The 39-year-old Gavin & Stacey star shared the shocking news as part of her new ITV documentary, Sheridan Smith: Becoming Mum, which chronicles her tough journey to become a first-time mother.
Sheridan recalled feeling ‘humiliated’ at the 2016 BAFTAs when host Norton publically implied that she had a drinking problem.
“We're all excited for a couple of drinks tonight. Or, as it's known in theatrical circles, a few glasses of technical difficulties,” he said.
It was a thinly-veiled reference to Sheridan’s sudden departure from her leading role in the West End show Funny Girl, which was officially attributed to ‘technical difficulties’ however some audiences reported seeing Sheridan slurring her words on stage.
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“I was so humiliated, you know, it's a room full of your peers. And people you want to work with, or have worked with,” Sheridan said.
“That night, for me, was like the final straw before my brain totally went off the deep end,” she added.
After the ceremony, Sheridan says she returned to her hotel room and abruptly stopped taking her anti-anxiety medication which she now claims she was addicted to.
A friend discovered the multi-award winner in a critical condition which Sheridan says saved her life.
“I seizured five times and got rushed to A&E and she’s the one who got me breathing again.
“It's a miracle she did [come]. It's like someone was looking out for me because what I didn't realise is that if you stop these tablets abruptly, you seizure.”
Elsewhere in the doco, Sheridan talks about attending therapy to work through trauma following the death of her brother when she was eight years old and her father’s passing in 2016.
Sheridan and her fiancé Jamie Horn welcomed a baby boy named Billy via emergency C-section earlier this year during the UK’s lockdown.
Mental health support for yourself or a loved one can be found by calling Lifeline on 13 11 14, Mensline on 1300 789 978, or the Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800.
Online support is available via Beyond Blue.
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