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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Karen Antcliff

Martin Roberts' terrifying skin condition that spread across his body and health worry

Homes Under the Hammer host Martin Roberts usually spends his days checking out auction properties and revealing house transformations.

But the 58-year-old presenter has had a least two unexpected tours of his local A&E department recently.

Once for a terrifying skin condition, which spread across his body, followed by an emergency procedure following diagnosis of a heart condition.

A recurring infection was diagnosed in July 2021 and at that time had spread from one part of his body to another.

Hot footing himself to hospital on this first occasion, the tv regular discovered he was suffering from a condition that, if not treated urgently, can become very serious.

The BBC host explained via social media that he is suffering from cellulitis – which, according to the NHS website, is a skin infection that's treated with antibiotics but "can be serious if it's not treated quickly".

Presenter Martin Roberts onscreen for Homes under the Hammer (BBC)

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Bacteria penetrates deep under the layers of the skin, and causes the skin to become hot, swollen and painful.

In Martin's case, he first turned to his local chemist to request antibiotics but computer errors meant the medication was unavailable and he was forced to get emergency treatment.

Taking to social media, the presenter who back in 2016 faced his fears in I'm A Celebrity, explained: “Bl**dy cellulitis has flared up again and it’s spread to my other leg too.

“The chemists wouldn’t give me the antibiotics I’d been prescribed, despite seeing my leg, due to a ‘system error’ and no recognition of how serious this is... So A&E for me.”

Sharing video updates on Twitter at the time, he filmed himself in a waiting room and then posted photos of himself being hooked up to an IV drip full of antibiotics saying he was having a “rubbish time”.

While waiting for the antibiotics to their thing, Martin shared photos of the skin on his foot looking red, inflamed, and swollen.

In one video update he said: “It's now 2:30 in the morning and I'm still here. But I need to tell you something really funny in the midst of all this! I was joking about the fact my cannula [a tube that can be inserted into the body used to remove fluid for the gathering of samples] is leaking and it's a full moon tonight

"The nurse came back and took some more blood and she's from Romania, and I think Transylvania is in Romania isn't it? And we were laughing because she said, 'You've got very nice veins!’

"You've got to laugh in the face pf adversity! The Romanian nurse, on a full moon, was complimenting me on my veins... should I be worried?"

Martin's quick action meant he treated quickly and managed leave the hospital in time for a 4am Sunday morning McDonalds - a video of which he shared.

However, serious complications that can occur if the condition is not treated quickly. These include a very high temperature, fast heartbeat, purple skin patches, feeling dizzy, faint or confused and loss of consciousness.

The condition can affect the hands, legs, feet and eyes and if untreated the infection can spread to more serious parts of the body including the blood, muscles and bones.

Martin shared his gratitude for having followers to join him during his trip to hospital, tweeting: “Thank you for all the lovely messages tonight. It’s kept me going for sure.”

This wasn't the first or indeed the last time that Martin had a trip to A&E. In April 2022, the 58-year-old was rushed to hospital with chest pains and underwent an emergency operation.

Again, taking to Twitter, Roberts shared a video that was captioned: "So. Bit of a shocker. Thankfully I'm here to tell the tale...".

He explained via the video that, "I had a few chest pains and just feeling generally lousy, so I was brought in here and turns out I had a massive amount of fluid all around my heart, which was actually stopping my heart working.

"Had they not got rid of it, which they did in an emergency operation last night, then it’s sort of quite serious, like, hours to live kind of c***.

"So here I am, still around, thank goodness, thank god and angels, all those things."

Lightening the post he added: "Meanwhile, there’s a good TV show on that I think I’ll watch here."

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