Zoe Birkett, the singer and musical theatre performer who rose to fame on ITV’s Pop Idol, has revealed she suffered a miscarriage during the final weeks of her run in The Tina Turner Musical in London.
Birkett, 40, said in a social media post on Wednesday that she discovered she was pregnant in April and lost the pregnancy at about 11 weeks while still performing in the West End production. The performer, who has a daughter, Aaria, said she took four shows off after a private scan showed the fetus had no heartbeat, then returned to the stage before taking her final bow as the title role.
In her post Birkett described the experience as "hands down the most difficult thing" she has been through and said she was supported by family, producers, creatives, cast members and the show's fight director, who helped devise a safe plan that included re‑choreographing fight sequences and altering costumes to reduce risk. She said the production carried out a full risk assessment so she could complete the last weeks of her contract.
Birkett wrote that she and her partner had been planning a different future for their family and had intended to wait until 12 weeks before telling their daughter. She said she felt physically well early in the pregnancy and that "muscle memory" helped her continue to perform as her body began to change around seven weeks.
"My body was changing and I was showing pregnant, we were planning a whole different future for our family, and then those words of 'I'm sorry your baby has no heartbeat' still feels like a dizzy out of body experience," she wrote. She added that performing was a form of healing but that she did not want the public to mistake survival mode for recovery. "Don’t mistake our survival mode for moving on, we experience real pain daily," she said.
Birkett shared a montage of personal and backstage footage with fans, from the moment she learned of the pregnancy to onstage clips and moments in hair and make-up. She said speaking openly about the miscarriage has helped her find "peace and acceptance" and that conversations with other women who had similar experiences had underlined how common the tragedy is.
Born in County Durham, Birkett first came to public attention at 16 as the highest‑placed female contestant on the 2002 Pop Idol series, finishing fourth. She released a solo single, "Treat Her Like a Lady," in 2003 and has since built a career in musical theatre with credits including Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Hair, Rent, The Great British Bake Off Musical, Moulin Rouge and the title role in Tina Turner the Musical.
The Tina Turner Musical, which features Turner’s hits including "River Deep – Mountain High," "The Best" and "What’s Love Got to Do with It," is scheduled to close on Saturday, Sept. 13, after a seven‑year West End run. Birkett said she was proud to have completed the run "strong" and expressed gratitude for the support she received from colleagues and family during the period of mourning.