45-year-old Christopher Maloney recalled the moment he was rushed to hospital in 2019 after eating a takeaway
(Picture: Ian West/PA)X Factor star Christopher Maloney has revealed that he nearly died after eating a Chinese takeaway that was contaminated with Campylobacter E-Coli.
The 45-year-old, who rose to fame on the ITV talent show in 2012, recalled the moment he was rushed to hospital in 2019, days after becoming violently ill from eating crispy duck and pancakes.
At the time, the Celebrity Big Brother star was performing as Prince Charming in Cinderella at the Bradford Playhous when he wanted to celebrate his 42nd birthday with Chinese food in his hotel room.
However, five hours later he was left suffering hallucinations, a fever and little to no sleep as he battled “going to the toilet and vomiting”.
He told the Liverpool ECHO: “The food was contaminated with Campylobacter E-Coli, the worst food poisoning you could contract from poultry, it can kill, and it nearly did.
“There are just no words to explain the pain of Campylobacter E-Coli.”
Despite his ill health, the star continued to perform for 10 more shows surviving on a diet of pineapple and water over fears of “letting people down”.
However, his illness eventually took its toll when he collapsed outside his mum’s house, where she called an ambulance and he was taken to Liverpool’s Aintree University Hospital.
The TV personality explained that he spent “two weeks in ICU and a further two weeks undergoing tests, scans, ultrasounds and x-rays.”
Maloney explained that his celebratory meal almost cost him his life as the parasite “embedded” itself into his large intestine and gave him colitis of the colon and large intestine.
He told The Mirror: “I honestly nearly died, my organs were shutting down. I nearly died. They were going to remove my colon and put me on a colostomy bag.
“It’s that bad that a parasite embedded itself into my large intestine and it’s given me colitis of the colon and colitis of the large intestine which means that it’s never going to go away, it’s a lifelong condition that needs to be monitored for the rest of my life.
“It’s a lifelong condition, it’s never going to go away, and it’s going to take about 12 months for me to feel like I’m back to normal.”
The Liverpudlian star was catapulted into the spotlight when he was mentored by Gary Barlow in the 2012 series of the X Factor – which saw James Arthur being crowned winner.
In 2016, he joined Celebrity Big Brother, and became the fifth contestant to leave the series following the public vote.
