Australian Idol runner-up Amy Reeves was admitted to hospital before the competition’s highly anticipated grand finale on March 25.
The health bombshell comes after judge Marcia Hines was also taken to hospital ahead of the finale episode after collapsing in her dressing room.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Australian Idol runner-up admitted to hospital day of the finale.
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Reeves, who came second to Dylan Wright, has now gone public about her “little incident”.
“I had a lot of people express care and concern for me, and I just want to say thank you so much and thank you so much for all the support on the crazy ride that was Australian Idol,” she said in an Instagram video.
“You have no idea how much it means to me.”
“I’m just going to preface this with … my body was hanging on by an absolute thread.
“Yeah, I got sick and it hit me. I was not well.”
The Australian Idol grand finale took place over Sunday and Monday March 24 and 25.
The two episodes involved multiple performances by the top three contenders, as well as established singers including Guy Sebastian and Delta Goodrem.
Reeves said she woke on the morning of Sunday’s show, her throat feeling like it was “swallowing knives”.
“But I pushed through it and did the best that I could and took some cold and flu medication that kind of helped the pain,” she said.
However, she was not so lucky on the Monday, waking up to learn she could barely speak let alone sing, and she grew “very concerned”.
Reeves’ sister, a surgeon at a hospital in Sydney, encouraged her to go to Emergency, where she was seen by an ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist.
The doctor inserted a camera through her nose down to her throat to inspect the area.
“My main concern was nodes or polyps, which can cause permanent damage,” she said.
“(My throat) was just super red, raw and inflamed. I had a viral infection so there was really not that much that could be done.
“But they fixed me by injecting me with a steroid. It saved me.”
Within hours, her inflammation had reduced and Reeves said she could speak once again.
“It didn’t feel fantastic but I felt worlds better than I did when I woke up,” she explained.
“Physically it made me feel better because that morning I looked like a corpse.
“I am still recovering from it because the steroid kind of put a pause on my sickness and delayed my healing time.”
Looking back, the runner-up said the last two days of the competition were “hectic” but she was “doing really well now”.
Fans have shown support for Reeves.
“The vocal cord check up the nose is horrid lol! All the good vibes for the recovery,” one said.
A second fan, who is a nurse and opera singer, said she “knew something was up” when watching the finale.
“My husband also said you weren’t yourself, and I was praying for you all,” the fan added.
A third wrote: “Omg you poor thing. That must have been super stressful! So glad you were able to sing that incredible performance at Aus idol! Recover and look after yourself.”
Judge Marcia Hines was absent from the Sunday episode of the finale series after collapsing ahead of the show, but she was able to return for the all-important Monday night decision episode.
The 70-year-old, who is diabetic, was taken to hospital after her collapse in the dressing room at the Sydney Coliseum Theatre on March 24.
She has since shared that she had a urinary tract infection, according to The Daily Telegraph.
UTIs can cause low blood pressure resulting in dizziness, weakness and fainting.
