'MY MANTRA IS: I AM ENOUGH'

Dame Denise Lewis tells us how serious illness and a romantic split gave her a positive new outlook on life

- DANIELLE LAWLER

When Dame Denise Lewis became seriously ill just before her 50th birthday party, it proved to be the catalyst for changing her life.

The former athlete had been running on empty when she was rushed to hospital with sepsis following issues with her gallbladder. The experience, she says, was a "red flag".

"I think it was a manifestation of stress," she recalls. "It said: 'Look after yourself. No one else is going to do this for you. You have to put yourself first. You have got to slow down. Start taking your mental and physical wellness seriously. You are not a machine, Denise."" In her first act, she found fame as an Olympic gold medal-winning heptathlete, before carving out a successful career as a broadcaster and becoming a mother to four children, her youngest born when she was 46.

Following her stint in hospital, however, she began to reassess what she wanted from the next stage of her life. A year later, she split from her husband of 17 years, the music manager Steve Finan O'Connor.