BBC TV host reveals devastating miscarriage: 'I couldn't talk about it for five years'

BBC TV host Victoria Derbyshire has revealed she suffered a devastating miscarriage earlier in her career.

The media personality said she couldn't bring herself to talk about the experience for five years, even though she usually "talks about everything."

Derbyshire, 56, spoke about her pregnancy loss during an episode of the Happy Mum Happy Baby podcast hosted by Giovanna Fletcher.

Watch the video above.

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The broadcaster was answering a question about falling pregnant with her sons when she opened up about her first pregnancy experience.

"I actually had the miscarriage on a plane," she said.

"I was so practical and pragmatic. I was like, 'Well, this is happening now and I'm going to work' and I just carried on. It's absolutely bizarre."

Derbyshire spoke of her difficulty in discussing it.

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"I'm a talker, I talk about everything. I'm very open," she said.

"Maybe it's partly because of the way I was brought up, we talked to my mum about all the crap that was going on.

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

Derbyshire eventually told her sons Oliver, 20, and Joe, 17, about the experience.

"My boys know I had that miscarriage and they think fondly 'what if that had been a sister'. I know what we'd have called her; they would have liked to have a sister," she said.

Derbyshire shares her two children with husband and producer Mark Sandell. The couple married in 2018 after a 17 year relationship, with their sons walking Derbyshire down the aisle.

The BBC stalwart would later share her breast cancer journey after being diagnosed in 2015. Derbyshire underwent a single mastectomy.

She recalled talking to her son Oliver about her diagnosis. At the time he was still in primary school.

"Olly said to me, 'Are you angry you've got cancer?':

When she told him she wasn't, he said he was angry about it and she urged him to channel that emotion into positivity.

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Son Joe cried when she checked in to see how he was coping with the news.

"They had to grow up a bit, as primary school kids," she said.

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Following surgery, Derbyshire underwent chemotherapy, working as much as her health allowed during treatment. She has since been given the all-clear.

During the podcast episode Derbyshire spoke of her desire to have another child, although she has accepted that is unlikely.

"I feel like, obviously I can't now, I'm in my 50s and I haven't had a period since chemotherapy, [but] I feel like I could have a baby now, isn't that mad? I love being the mum of a newborn," she said.

The Red Nose Grief and Loss Support Line is available 24/7 for anyone affected by the loss of a pregnancy, stillbirth or death of a baby or child on 1300 308 307.

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