Elaine Lordan discusses baby tragedy

Elaine Lordan has spoken for the first time about the ‘terrible shock’ of her baby son’s early death. The ex EastEnders actress reveals the horror of losing one-year-old James – who had been born with a diaphragmatic hernia and spent the first six months of his life in intensive care – in her forthcoming autobiography, Whatever It Takes. “He lay there looking perfectly peaceful, his eyes closed and his little face pink,” she recalls of the moment when a doctor told her that he had been unable to revive her son. “I lifted his eyelids. Perhaps I hoped to see a flicker of life, even then. I held him in my arms and there was a little trickle of blood from his nose, which Pete [Manuel, her husband] wiped away. “He was doing really well and it was a terrible shock when he died. He had his own wee personality. He taught us so much.” The 41-year-old actress also explains how quitting I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here was a blessing in disguise, because it allowed her to spend more time with James before his unexpected death. Whatever It Takes is published on 5 May.