Jo O'Meara reveals she nearly died after suffering 'strangulated bowel' on plane
S Club 7 singer Jo O'Meara has revealed she experienced a medical emergency that "nearly killed me" while touring in New Zealand back in 2016.
The 43-year-old appeared on the Instagram series Celebrity Skin Talk and explained how the traumatic event led her to experience skin problems in the aftermath.
Read more: Jo O'Meara says she lost everything amid CBB row
She said: "I got a strangulated bowel on a plane and I had to be rushed into surgery. It nearly killed me, to be honest.
"I was in hospital for a really long time. They wouldn't let me fly home because I was so poorly.
"I then found out a trauma can help bring on adult acne, which I didn't know existed until I had it myself. It's so horrible as there is not a thing I could do about it."
A strangulated bowel is caused by a section of organ or tissue becoming trapped in a hernia, cutting off blood supply to it, and is a life-threatening condition.
Read more: Jo O'Meara says she felt "like the ugly one" in S Club 7
O'Meara's emergency caused her to cancel gigs in New Zealand — in which spin-off group S Club 3 were due to perform alongside B*Witched and Atomic Kitten — while she recovered from surgery.
S Club 3 has consisted of numerous line-ups over the years, but was made up of O'Meara, Tina Barrett and Bradley McIntosh at the time of the 2016 tour.
S Club 7 formed in 1998 and rose to fame with their singles Bring It All Back and S Club Party, as well as playing versions of themselves in BBC sitcom Miami 7.
Paul Cattermole left the group in 2002 and the other members announced they would split the following year after the release of a greatest hits album.
Read more: Paul Cattermole claims he was forced to date S Club 7 bandmate
The original line-up reunited for the Children in Need telethon in 2014 and embarked on a UK arena tour in 2015, reissuing their greatest hits record alongside the concerts.
Barrett hinted in 2020 that the group could come back together again and release "something more credible" than their previous cheesy pop work.
Watch: Rachel Stevens struggles with tough S Club 7 trivia
