ITV I'm A Celebrity star reveals she had tragic miscarriage on plane but kept working

An I'm A Celebrity star and former BBC journalist has opened up about a tragic miscarriage she suffered many years before she had her two sons

I'm A Celebrity's Victoria Derbyshire has bravely opened up about suffering a miscarriage while on a plane, and how she continued to work despite the ordeal.

The broadcaster revealed that the tragic incident occurred many years ago, before she became a mother to her sons Oliver, 20, and Joe, 17, with husband Mark Sandell. Describing her reaction at the time as "practical and pragmatic", she admitted it was "absolutely bizarre" that she carried on working.

peaking on the Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast, Victoria confessed that the loss of her first pregnancy was "very upsetting". Despite being a natural "talker", it took her five years to open up about the experience.

The Newsnight presenter, who appeared on the ITV show in 2020, said: "I actually had the miscarriage on a plane. I was just so sort of practical and pragmatic. I was like, 'Well this is happening now and I'm going to work,' and I just sort of carried on. It's absolutely bizarre."

She told podcast host Giovanna Fletcher that the experience was "very upsetting", adding: "I'm a talker, I talk about everything. I'm really open. Maybe it's partly because of the way I was brought up. We talked to my mum about all the c*** that was going on.", reports the Daily Star.

"That was one thing I couldn't talk about for about five years; it was so odd... I could not speak about it."

The telly favourite opened up about a deeply personal experience, sharing that her sons are aware of her miscarriage and often ponder on the sibling they could have had. She recounted: "They fondly think, 'Oh what if that had been a sister, what if, you know, what would we have called her'.

"I know what we would have called her," she continued, revealing the name they had in mind for a daughter. They would have liked a sister," she reflected, speaking of her boys Oliver and Joe. Victoria found love with Mark, a fellow radio and TV producer, at Radio 5 Live.

The couple enjoyed a long relationship before finally saying 'I do' in 2018, celebrating their wedding at their home.

Victoria has also candidly revealed the letter she wrote to her sons prior to her mastectomy in 2015. She admitted she feared she would not wake up from the surgery, so penned her kids a goodbye note. She said: "I had this really weird anxiety, maybe it’s rational, that I wasn’t going to wake up after the anaesthetic so I wrote each of them a goodbye letter – in case I didn’t wake up.

She continued: "Obviously I was going to wake up, because a million people have anaesthetic every day and wake up, but that was the thing that was making me most nervous. It wasn’t losing a breast – that was fine, get the cancer out – but what if I don’t see my boys again."

If you have been affected by this story, advice and support can be found at the Miscarriage Association. You can call them on 01924 200799 or email info@miscarriageassociation.org.uk

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