Miranda Hart feared she was going to die after collapsing on the floor at her home. The comedian is one of 21 celebrities hoping to win the second series of the BBC show Celebrity Traitors, which begins tonight (Thursday, October 1).
Miranda's television appearances have been few and far between over the last decade as she battled with a debilitating condition that left her virtually bed-bound. The 53-year-old battled with feelings of exhaustion for decades while she was ignored by a succession of doctors.
Diagnosed with Lyme disease
She was eventually diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2020 after struggling with severe chronic symptoms for years. They were initially misdiagnosed as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
Lyme disease is a bacterial infection transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected tick. Miranda believes she developed the infection when she was living in Virginia, USA at around the age of 14 or 15, which is a known hotspot for the ticks that transmit the disease.
Collapse at home
Writing in her autobiography, I Haven't Been Entirely Honest With You, Miranda opened up about an incident where she collapsed on her floor at home, worrying she was going to die with only her dog for company.
She said: "I was alone and had just collapsed on my sitting room floor, the worried licks of my dog, Peggy, trying to help me. I couldn't really move, such was the degree of exhaustion.
"I remember saying, 'it's very rare to die of exhaustion. I'm not OK, but it's OK,' trying to reassure Peggy as much as myself. I felt very weak. Like I didn't exist. Like I was fading away."
This was the first occasion Miranda collapsed, and happened before she was finally diagnosed with Lyme disease. The comedian revealed she was sad rather than scared as she felt she had "nothing left to give".
Decades of misdiagnosis
Because Miranda's condition went undiagnosed for decades, the bacteria lay dormant or reactivated over time. This caused mysterious chronic fatigue, joint weakness and nerve issues that doctors repeatedly misattributed or ignored.
She continued: "The emotion from years of wondering how I would make it through the day, or never really knowing why I was so exhausted, enveloped me like a heavy cloak. I just lay there. And waited.
"Either my body would start to come around or I would fade away. There was nothing I could do about it. I sank further into the rug and let out a long sigh."
The comedian shot to fame with her semi-autobiographical sitcom, Miranda, which first aired on the BBC in 2009 and picked up a string of awards. Celebrity Traitors begins tonight from 8pm to 9.15pm on BBC One.
