Little Mix's Perrie Edwards 'thought she was having a heart attack' in terrifying moment

Perrie Edwards has bravely shared her struggles with anxiety and panic attacks during a heartfelt discussion on Fearne Cotton's Happy Place podcast. The Little Mix star, aged 31, experienced her first episode of intense anxiety while in Las Vegas years after becoming famous on X Factor.

Convinced she was having a heart attack, Perrie rushed herself to hospital, explaining: "It's random but it started a good few years ago when me and the girls were in Vegas so, something happened and I'd just started experiencing like panic attacks out of nowhere.

"And it was really scary and I thought I was dying at the time, like, I thought I was having a heart attack." At the hospital, doctors quizzed Perrie over her drugs use, but the singer insisted she had taken nothing and remained convinced that something was 'happening to [her heart]'.

It took some time before Perrie realised that what she experienced was a panic attack – which according to the NHS is a severe symptom of anxiety manifesting as a racing heartbeat, nausea, shortness of breath and dizziness, amongst other symptoms. Such attacks generally last from five to 20 minutes and can extend for an hour.

Crucially, the NHS adds: "Although panic attacks are frightening, they're not dangerous. An attack will not cause you any physical harm, and it's unlikely you'll be admitted to hospital if you have one."

Despite her diagnosis, the Little Mix star continued to battle numerous panic attacks that struck without warning. At one stage, Perrie even feared she was going 'insane' and wondered if her mother would even section her. Thankfully, years of therapy and dedicated self-improvement have seen her emerge from those difficult moments.

The South Shields star added: "I think now it's almost like I'm at the stage where, instead of trying to avoid the anxiety which I do, like as soon as I feel the tingles in my neck and I feel the anxiety creeping in I start panicking and then I spiral. Whereas, instead, I'm trying to learn to like be with the feelings and be like 'ok why do I feel like this?'..."

Perrie's harrowing experience also echoes that of reality TV star Jamie Laing, who recently spoke out about his own anxiety battle, highlighting the significance of World Mental Health Day on October 10. The 35-year-old, who left Made in Chelsea in 2021, revealed on ITV's Good Morning Britain that he suffered his first panic attack 14 years ago, after years of silent struggle.

Like Perrie, Jamie also rushed himself to hospital in the belief that has was suffering a heart attack, but doctors instead revealed a dramatically different diagnosis. Speaking with the TV show's presenters, he explained: "I took myself to hospital they said 'you're having a panic attack don't worry go home', I went home and that was the day that my life changed. I had anxiety that I didn't know what it was, didn't understand it, never spoke out about it."

When asked why Jamie 'never spoke out' about his symptoms, he confessed he once felt 'ashamed' because he didn't understand anxiety and 'just wanted it to go'. The star continued: "It was there for many years until I spoke to a really great friend of mine who was best man at my wedding, a guy called Toby.

"I finally phoned him up and I got very emotional on the phone and I said 'Toby, something's wrong with me', and I was scared [about] what he was going to say. And he said: 'Don't worry Jamie, we'll go through it together.' And it was this echo back which was incredible and I suddenly realised that all these years that I'd been holding it in, why hadn't I spoken out about it?"

Jamie certainly isn't alone in this either. A 2024 survey from Mind unveiled that more than 56% of people experiencing 'mental ill health' still feel ashamed. In light of this, Sarah Hughes, CEO of Mind, said: "Shockingly, our survey shows that over half of the population associate mental health with shame. That’s why we are campaigning, so more people understand that it really is okay not to be okay."

For emotional support, you can call the Samaritans 24-hour helpline on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org, visit a Samaritans branch in person or go to the Samaritans website.