Amanda Holden has launched a blistering attack on Mumsnet after users of the parenting website criticised her for going back to work only three weeks after giving birth.
The Britain’s Got Talent star returned to the judging chair last year after coming close to death having her second child.
Mums on the site condemned her decision, claiming she was afraid of losing her slot on the show.
Scroll down for video
Criticism:
Amanda Holden has hit out at negativity on Mumsnet after she was
condemned for returning to Britain's Got Talent three weeks after giving
birth
Difficult birth: Amanda with baby Hollie, now aged one. After giving birth Amanda's heart stopped beating for four minutes
But now the 42-year-old has hit back, criticising the website for its ‘negativity’ and ‘encouraging guilt’ among mothers.
Speaking exclusively to The Mail on Sunday’s You magazine, she said: ‘I visited Mumsnet because I thought, “Oh, that sounds like a nice site where you can get handy tips on weaning your baby and helpful advice.”
I thought it sounded like the perfect social medium; a support network
for mums. But I discovered that it’s a lot of women criticising, judging
and having a go at each other.
‘What we need is a site that gives positive support instead of encouraging guilt by making women who aren’t able to breastfeed feel bad, or condemning women for going back to work.’
She discovered the negative comments only after a journalist asked her about the ‘controversy’ over her return to Britain’s Got Talent.
But now the 42-year-old has hit back, criticising the website for its ‘negativity’ and ‘encouraging guilt’ among mothers.
Speaking exclusively to The Mail on Sunday’s You magazine, she said: ‘I visited Mumsnet because I thought, “Oh, that sounds like a nice site where you can get handy tips on weaning your baby and helpful advice.”
More...
- 'I am so grateful to be here': In the past three years she has faced huge personal trauma and very public criticism, yet Amanda Holden still considers herself lucky to be a normal mum with a career she loves
- Why did Amanda and Alesha walk out? Can they compete with David and Simon's 'bromance'? And what about the raccoon that thinks it's Pudsey? As Britain's Got Talent returns, the four judges tell all...
‘What we need is a site that gives positive support instead of encouraging guilt by making women who aren’t able to breastfeed feel bad, or condemning women for going back to work.’
She discovered the negative comments only after a journalist asked her about the ‘controversy’ over her return to Britain’s Got Talent.
Star: Britain's Got Talent judge Amanda Holden alongside fellow panelists David Walliams, Alesha Dixon and Simon Cowell
One Mumsnet user had written: ‘Spending time with your newborn is way more important than some s****y talent show.’Another added: ‘I’m sure she could afford to take a few more weeks off, let’s not pretend she’s desperate for money.’
Ms Holden, married to record producer Chris Hughes, has two children, Lexi, seven, and Hollie, one.
In January 2012, after giving birth to Hollie, Amanda’s heart stopped beating for four minutes. Her placenta had become attached to her bladder, causing massive haemorrhaging.
Glamour: The judges dressed up ahead of last year's series of Britain's Got Talent
The star, pictured exclusively in You magazine, said her determination to restore normality for Lexi was behind her quick return to work.
‘The normal in my house is Mummy doing Britain’s Got Talent. When I had been in hospital Lexi had seen me in such hideous circumstances that I decided I needed to get back to normal for her and for me.
‘Mummy shoved on her eyelashes and went back on Britain’s Got Talent because that was normal. I took Hollie with me and we went to Birmingham and I just did three days.’
Mumsnet co-founder Justine Roberts said: ‘Of course people can be critical, but for every opinion there is usually a counter one.’