BBC Escape To The Country star died after vomiting blood, inquest told
An Escape To The Country star died after vomiting blood, an inquest has heard. Emma Izzard, 53, died at Norfolk and Norwick Hospital in November last year, reports the Mirror.
She appeared on the BBC programme with her then partner, Kym Lofthouse. Norfolk Coroner's Court heard Ms Izzard had been battling alcoholism before her sad death.
Her alcohol consumption increased in July 2022 after her mother became ill. Ms Izzard was raced to hospital on November 19 after she began vomiting blood and suffered a cardiac arrest, but was resuscitated.
However, just one day after her hospital admission, Ms Izzard died after she went into cardiac arrest while undergoing a gastroscopy in an operating theatre.
A gastroscopy is a procedure in which a thin tube with a camera attached is inserted into the digestive tract to examine the stomach, oesophagus and duodenum to look at symptoms including pain, bleeding or difficulty swallowing.
At the inquest, her death was ruled as an oesophageal and variceal bleed, with alcohol -related liver disease.
Emma's former partner, Kym said: "Emma had a very strong bond with her mother. Emma lived with her for many years and continued to look after her even when she did move out.
"[Emma's] alcohol levels increased when her mother was taken to hospital in July 2022, and she thought she was going to lose her. After six months of secret drinking, she wanted to stop but couldn't get the help required quickly enough and began drinking again."
Emma attended rehab on several occasions, but each relapse caused her drinking to "become heavier", a court heard.
Emma's father, who died when she was just a teenager, also suffered with alcoholism.
Speaking about Emma, Kym added: "Emma was a larger-than-life character who was very popular both in and outside of her work, and she had many friends.
"She was very caring but had had personal struggles earlier in her life that she was unable to deal with."
Emma also attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and received some help from Change Grow Live (CGL), an alcohol misuse charity.
"Emma did not want to drink but it had taken a strong hold of her," Kym said, adding: "And she didn't and couldn't deal with her problems. Her drinking became heavier, and she became desperate."
Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community!
Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today.
You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland.
No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team.
All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in!
If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'.
We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like.
To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.
If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Addressing the court, area coroner Johanna Thompson said: "Emma had a history of excess alcohol consumption and had been diagnosed with alcohol -related liver disease. At the hospital, Emma was clearly presenting as very poorly.
"She was white, dehydrated, and was considered to have symptoms of acute alcohol withdrawal. Sadly, after being given surgery, treatment could not save her at the end of the day."
The court heard Ms Izzard worked as a general assistant for a charity and dealt with her everyday life "competently when not drinking."
She appeared on the BBC One programme in 2021 while living in Luton, Bedfordshire, when she and her partner were hoping to start a new life in Norfolk due to its "clean air" and "slower pace of life".
However, after moving to North Walsham, she and Kym later parted ways but remained close friends.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Record
28 minutes ago
- Daily Record
Queen's 'great, great, granddaughter' seeks DNA test and approval from Charles
Much has been made of Queen Victoria's relationship with her ghillie John Brown - now a woman who believes she is their descendant wants to prove the affair was real. A woman who reckons she might be the illegitimate great, great granddaughter of Queen Victoria says her ultimate aim is to get acknowledgement from King Charles. Angela Webb-Milinkovich, from Minnesota, believes she and her sister have ancestry that traces back to Victoria's lengthy, passionate affair with her devoted servant John Brown. Fresh research by historian Dr Fern Riddell indicates that whilst officially Angela's great grandmother Mary Ann was the sole child of John's brother Hugh and his wife Jessie, there's proof suggesting the infant might actually have been born from his secret romance with the monarch, during which they were clandestinely wed. Angela, 47, is now preparing to undergo a DNA test as the definitive evidence of her Royal bloodline. She insists she has no desire to profit from the tale, solely wanting to ensure her family's position in history receives the acknowledgement it merits, reports the Mirror. "My main goal is to have the story acknowledged - I want their relationship to be recognised and for the royal family to stop saying it didn't happen," she explains. "If I'm going to reach for the top, it would have to be from King Charles," she adds, when asked who she'd most like to hear from. "I mean, it's a great story and it has his family involved, too. So he would be interested in it." Or Prince William perhaps? "That'd be great. That's acceptable," she laughs. Angela was raised believing her family descended from royalty through baby Mary Ann. She can't recall exactly when she learned this, only that there was a tale about "a big boat trip... and a baby given to the family." Dr Riddell reached out to Angela during her four-year investigation for her new book Victoria's Secret, revealing she'd found that childless couple Jessie and Hugh had sailed to New Zealand in 1865, recording Mary Ann's birth there shortly afterwards - which could account for the maritime journey. Speaking on Channel 4's accompanying documentary, Dr Riddell suggested that the widowed Victoria could have easily hidden a pregnancy during the 1860s, then had the infant - her tenth child - secretly transported to the opposite side of the globe to prevent scandal. Records show that in 1874, Victoria funded the family's return voyage to Scotland, even providing them with a substantial residence on the Balmoral estate. Following John's death, she also relocated Hugh's family to Windsor to be closer to her. Angela managed to grant Dr Riddell access to a wealth of new evidence from the Brown family archive, which contained items and documents that have been in their possession for decades. Some of this came from a safety deposit box that Angela and her sister, who wishes to remain anonymous, opened about five years ago following their father's death. "We didn't know what we had, just that they were items from John Brown and Queen Victoria," she now admits. "It was always something in the back of our minds - we should probably get these looked at." Despite longstanding family suspicions that they were related to Queen Victoria, Angela was still taken aback when Dr Fern reached out. "I believed my family was being truthful with it, but we could never prove it. Once she sent that message, I thought 'What the heck? Is there actually validity to this?'" Angela, who is employed as a mental health care worker, expressed her desire for the love affair, which was concealed both during and after Victoria's lifetime, to be recognised as the truth. "It's something that I'm very proud of," she declared. "I want the vindication essentially for John Brown and just for my lineage, because they were not able to talk about it. It was something that just became that secret that we couldn't really share, but we knew." If Dr Riddell's account is accurate, and there's substantial evidence backing it up, Victoria and John shared a passionate romance spanning nearly two decades, right up until his passing in 1883. Beyond exchanging mutual declarations of love on his deathbed - "I told him no one loved him more than I did and he answered 'nor you - than me'" - she had also created a cast of his hand, precisely as she'd done for Albert. When her own end came in 1901, she requested to be interred with a lock of hair and photograph of the man who'd stood beside her for twenty years following Albert's demise in 1861. Letters that survived show her addressing him as "my beloved" and "darling one". Yet, at the behest of her eldest son Bertie - poised to become Edward VII - the Palace began systematically wiping John from history. Victoria's diaries were transcribed and altered, with the originals being destroyed. Bertie, who had frequently feuded with Brown, also commanded that the statues and private monuments Victoria had erected in his honour be demolished. Angela's grandfather passed away when she was in primary school, but she recalls him being distressed about the Browns' erasure from history. "My understanding from my Mum was that he was just really upset and bitter about it," she shared. "He didn't like to talk about it. Now, having both my parents and my aunt gone, we don't have those resources any more. So the bulk of the story I have been learning from Fern, which is amazing, and I'm so grateful." Angela remains hopeful that the Royals will eventually have to acknowledge the legitimacy of the claims made about her ancestors, as highlighted in a Channel 4 documentary aired on Thursday. "My gut says it's going to have to get acknowledged at some point," she suggests. "Scandals are always very exciting so I'm sure there'll be a lot of questions for them to answer. If they don't say anything, that's their choice. But I'd like them to acknowledge the truth of this love, to recognise that it wasn't cool to cover up and destroy evidence of the relationship they shared. Let's be real, Bertie was a bit of a d**k to the Browns. "That story deserves to be known, to have its own breath out there in the world. You don't get that kind of romance every day. It's what you'd hope for anybody, that you would find another chance at love. So I don't see why we should look down on that. It's like an opportunity presented itself and they embraced it, and I think that is beautiful." Angela is hopeful of undergoing a DNA test to confirm her lineage, but has been cautioned that it might take a while due to the necessity for impeccable source material for testing across four generations. "I'll let the scientists do the science," she says with a smile. "I'm a supporting character in this journey, and so I will follow wherever the story leads me. I'm totally open to it. So far it's been so exciting, so cool. I'm just really stoked." The tattooed American, sporting a nose-ring, firmly denies that she's merely attempting to profit from the Royal family's wealth. "Money is the furthest thing from my goal in telling this family story. It has always been to get Queen Victoria and John Brown's story the truth it deserves." She can't fathom any other reason why her family would possess valuable keepsakes from Victoria and John, including a brooch and a lock of hair. "Their relationship was authentic and genuine. They obviously had feelings for each other. It went well beyond a queen and man servant situation." There was a fair amount of speculation at the time about the duo, portrayed by Dame Judi Dench and Billy Connolly in the 1997 film Mrs Brown. In 1865, after Victoria requested John's transfer to the Royal Household at Windsor, two of her daughters, Helena and Louise, openly referred to him as 'Mamma's lover'. And the following year a Swiss newspaper published a story claiming Victoria, then aged 46, had privately married John and become pregnant. Angela would be delighted regardless of whether Mary Ann proves to be John or Hugh's daughter. "Either John Brown is my great, great uncle or he is my great, great grandpa. My family still played a key role in history with their friendship and closeness to Queen Victoria. I'm proud of their steadfastness in keeping the legacy of John Brown alive and their word to holding the secret close. It's still a beautiful romance that deserves its moment of recognition in history." With her Scottish heritage through her mother's lineage, Angela adores visiting the UK at every opportunity and confesses she occasionally feels more British than American. "I've always felt a little disconnected in the sense that I feel more at home over there. Scotland is my happy place. I would move there if I could, for sure."
Daily Mirror
29 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Mrs Brown's Boys viewers left in utter disbelief as controversial show returns to BBC
Fans have reacted sharply to the return of Mrs Brown's Boys, with many on social media branding it unfunny and questioning why it was ever commissioned BBC sitcom Mrs Brown's Boys returned to screens tonight for the start of its fifth full-length series, despite enduring a turbulent few years marked by falling ratings and a high-profile racism controversy involving its creator and star, Brendan O'Carroll. First aired in 2011, the comedy became a holiday fixture and enjoyed huge popularity in its early years. Its 2013 Christmas Day special drew 11.52 million viewers, making it one of the most-watched festive programmes of the decade. However, viewership has steadily declined. The show last appeared in the top ten on Christmas Day in 2020, attracting 3.8 million viewers. It comes after Brendan, 69, finally announced the future of Mrs Brown to fans. The series has long divided audiences and critics, and was recently labelled the 'worst ever BBC show' by some viewers on social media. Comments on X during tonight's broadcast included: 'Worst programme in human history should've never been commissioned' and 'Just speechless… I honestly don't know one person who thinks this show is remotely funny.' Another insisted: "This show needs to be axed asap. It's not one bit funny." Someone else fumed: "I actually hate this show with a passion and I'm Irish and from Dublin and I GET that kind of sense of humour." In 2023, Mrs Brown's Boys faced further scrutiny after O'Carroll made a racial slur during rehearsals for the Christmas special. Crew members were reportedly 'shocked' by the remark and lodged complaints with BBC bosses. The broadcaster suspended production and launched an investigation. O'Carroll later apologised, expressing 'deep regret' over what he called a 'clumsy attempt at a joke.' Speaking publicly about the incident for the first time on Irish YouTube programme Conversations With Gerry Kelly, O'Carroll claimed his words had been 'completely taken out of context.' He also argued that the episode ultimately had a positive impact. 'The one thing that that incident did is give great awareness about racism, and great awareness about the BBC, they don't take any messing… However, I think in the long run it was a good thing, because it got people talking about it.' O'Carroll, who has won the National Television Award for Best Comedy six times for Mrs Brown's Boys, has made it clear he is unfazed by negative feedback. 'The ones that love me, I love them, and the ones that don't, f*** them,' he told Kelly, adding that those who dislike the show should simply 'pick up the remote and change the station.' Despite its dwindling audience, the series maintains a loyal fan base and continues to be a fixture in the BBC's comedy line-up. The new series, which began tonight, marks a fresh chapter for the show as it seeks to recapture some of its former success in the face of ongoing criticism.
Daily Mail
29 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Ellie Goldstein 'to become first Strictly Come Dancing star with Down syndrome as she is latest star to sign to 2026 series'
Ellie Goldstein is reportedly set to become the first Strictly Come Dancing star with Down syndrome after signing up for the show. The model, 23, who has appeared on the cover of Vogue, is hoping to 'break down barriers' in the entertainment industry. When Ellie was born, doctors said that she would 'never walk or talk', and one nurse devastatingly suggested that her parents might want to 'leave her' at the hospital. But she has defied all expectations since her birth in December 2001, making history as the first model with Down's syndrome to feature in major international campaigns. And as Strictly Come Dancing is set to return to screens this Autumn, Ellie has been rumoured to be the latest celebrity who has signed on to the cast. A source told The Sun: 'Ellie is thrilled to be taking part in Strictly. She has broken down so many barriers in her career, from modelling for Gucci to being the first model with Down syndrome to appear on the cover of Vogue.' They added: 'Ellie can't wait to get started on the show and show people what she can do.' Daily Mail has contacted the BBC for comment. Gucci hired Ellie for its Unconventional Beauty adverts, landing her the cover of Italian Vogue in 2020. She has graced the covers of numerous magazines, including Elle and Glamour, featured in promotions for Gucci Beauty, Adidas, TK Maxx, Body Shop, Boots, Spotify, Victoria's Secret and Sports Direct, and even hung in the National Portrait Gallery in London on two occasions. Ellie has been flown to Sweden, Italy and Germany for photoshoots, and has just strutted her stuff on the catwalk at London Fashion Week. In 2023, she headed to Paris to receive a prestigious Business of Fashion award. As well as being 'treated like a princess' on photoshoots, Ellie has also been showered with designer gifts — clothes and bags from Gucci and Kurt Geiger — and helped create her own dress for Adidas, pale pink with 'Role Model' written on the back. When Mattel launched its first Barbie with Down's syndrome, the company hired Ellie to help promote the doll. 'I've done so much modelling and I love it,' she previously told Daily Mail. 'And I adored doing the Barbie job — it was great to finally see a doll that looked like me.' When Mattel launched its first Barbie with Down's syndrome, it was Ellie the company hired to help promote the doll Earlier this year, she starred in the Stand Up To Cancer 2025 celebrity special alongside Good Morning Britain host Kate Garraway, TV presenter Sarah Beeny, Loose Women's Gloria Hunniford and actress Meera Syal. Ellie began her modelling career in sixth form when a friend of her mum's had seen the manager of an 'inclusive' talent agency, Zebedee — which works with people with disabilities and visible differences — on daytime television. She suggested Ellie, whose favourite pastimes have always been singing and dancing, would be a perfect signing. Ellie's mum Yvonne contacted Zebedee which, after a trial photoshoot, added Ellie to its books in 2016. Eight months later, Ellie was featured in Superdrug's Christmas advert. 'I loved it!,' Ellie said. 'I got to dance and wear hair glitter.'
