BGT star Tom Ball hospitalized with ‘life-threatening condition’ just hours before live final

Britain’s Got Talent star Tom Ball was admitted to hospital with a ‘life-threatening condition’ just hours before the show’s grand final.

The singer, 24, wowed millions of viewers with his thrilling performance in the grand final on June 5 this year, with Tom coming third behind eventual winner Axel Blake and runner-up Jamie Leahey.

But just 24 hours before, Tom – who has type 1 diabetes – was in the emergency room being treated for ketoacidosis – a serious and potentially fatal complication of diabetes that occurs when your body produces high levels of blood acids called ketones.

In a new interview, the West Sussex teacher described his fear of missing out on his big moment as he thought ‘this can’t happen’, with Tom revealing how he kept his ordeal a secret from BGT producers in case he was axed from competition.

Throughout the competition, Tom had managed to keep his condition under control, with his ability to sing potentially affected by his blood sugar levels.

But just two days before the live final, Tom began to feel seriously ill, and his wife Hannah called 911 before being told to take him to hospital.

Tom told The Sun: “I just started feeling awful. I was really sick and completely exhausted. I was in bed after a day of trying to get my ketones under control, and my wife and I ended up calling NHS 111 , who told us to go to the hospital because things were not getting under control.

He added that in his life he had been hospitalized about eight times because of his diabetes. adding that things “had to be serious” for him to do that.

Tom went on to say that Hannah drove him straight to the ER where he then received hours of “specialist medical care” to get his chronic condition “under control”, all while the singer counted down the hours to the final.

Tom said that although he was worried about his health, he was keen to get fit enough to perform on stage and not miss the biggest moment of his life.

He said: ‘I just kept thinking, I can’t be here. This can’t happen. I have finals in two days.

Talking about how serious the condition was, Tom shared how the build-up of toxins “attacks your body” which can cause you to “lose limbs”, with Tom noting that the condition usually “affects your fingers and toes first”.

He added that the condition also “take your view”, with the artist noting that it was “really hard” to try to stay “positive” ahead of the final knowing this.

Tom didn’t get home until four in the morning and immediately went into rehearsals even though recovery from the attacks usually took days.

Despite his ordeal, Tom chose to keep the news a secret from show bosses due to fears they would pull him out of the competition due to health scares.

The singer told how he wanted to take part in the final no matter what and didn’t want ‘excuses’ to be made for him if his performance was ‘bad’ or ‘didn’t go to plan’ – adding that he wanted the result to be about himself and ‘ not my diabetes”.

He continued: ‘I told my researcher if anything went really wrong, but I asked them not to tell anyone at all. I didn’t want it to be a problem. It was kept secret.’

Last week Tom revealed his battle with type 1 diabetes and speaking to The Mirror, he said he hopes to share his story to raise awareness and help others who may be suffering.

Diabetes is a lifelong condition that causes a person’s blood sugar level to become too high.

“The condition has been something I’ve lived with for a long time and was officially diagnosed when I was eight years old,” he told the paper.

He said some of his students saw him checking his blood sugar levels one day as they asked questions and pushed him to be open about his struggle.

“But it wasn’t until my students asked questions about it once they saw me checking my blood sugar levels that I realized how important it was to talk about it and help them understand it.”

Tom is an ambassador for diabetes in the UK for World Diabetes Day.