EDITED BY COLIN ROBERTSON
If I win BGT, I’ll marry the boyfriend who stood by me
during brain illness
Aliki Chrysochou reveals her plan to wed on romantic
Greek island
Audition ... Aliki Chrysochou
Rex
Published: 21st May 2013
BRITAIN’S Got Talent star Aliki Chrysochou says if she wins the show she will celebrate by marrying her long-term fiancé.
The blonde stunner met partner Alex while she was recovering from deadly brain bug encephalitis and says a romantic wedding on a Greek paradise island would be the perfect way to follow winning the ITV show’s final next month.
She told TV Biz: “Alex and I have been together for nine years. If I won Britain’s Got Talent I’d love to go and get married on one of the Greek islands.
“That’s where my grandparents are from and a wedding there would be wonderful. Alex has always been very supportive of me. He’s so excited about me being on Britain’s Got Talent.” Aliki, who won a standing ovation for her version of Evanescence’s Bring Me To Life on Saturday, added: “Alex and I met through my brother, Fotis — they were friends and used to play basketball together.
“Alex is a singer/songwriter and he knew I sang, so he asked me to perform one of his songs and things went from there.
“That was back in 2004 and I was still recovering from encephalitis. I was back at university in Sheffield but I was still on medication.
“Alex used to come to doctor’s appointments with me and he played a big part in helping me get my confidence back.
“I don’t think I could have got through it without him.”
Smiles better ... Aliki Chrysochou beat brain bug to be on BGT
Darren Goff
Aliki told the BGT judges at her audition that she had to rebuild her life from scratch after battling the brain disease, which left her temporarily unable to speak, read, write or walk.
And hospital doctors told her horrified parents to expect the worst after Aliki, then aged 19, failed to respond to treatment for six weeks.
Aliki told how when the disease first hit, doctors thought she was just worn out from studying for her music degree at Sheffield University.
But it soon became clear her symptoms were far more serious — and had been triggered by inflammation of the brain. She said: “I would go to brush my teeth and have no idea how to do it. When I poured a cup of tea, I’d let the boiling water spill and burn my hand.
“I can remember going for a coffee with friends and not being able to say a single word. It was like a switch had been turned off in my brain.”
As Aliki’s symptoms worsened, doctors referred her to London’s National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery for treatment.
It took six weeks before she could begin to communicate with her worried parents, who had kept a constant vigil by their daughter’s bedside.
Tearful ... Aliki Chrysochou is emotional after telling the judges about her illness
THAMES TV/SYCO
She explained: “My mum Debbie was in the hospital one night and when she started singing to me, I hummed along with the song.
“It was the first time I had responded to her since I was taken into the hospital. From that point on I began to recover but it was a slow process.
“I had to learn to read again using an ABC book for one-year-olds and my brother would give me simple sums — such as one plus one — to complete.
“Gradually I made progress and I was able to go back to university one year after I caught the illness. I graduated two years later, in 2005.”
Aliki had to take medication for a long time but has now fully recovered. The singer — who was praised by Simon Cowell for her “natural talent” — now works as a music teacher, splitting her time between London and Cyprus. And she told how her struggle has inspired her to aim high: “I definitely think what happened to me has made me more ambitious.
“I believe that the day you realise you are going to die is the day you start living and I know now to make the most of every moment I have.
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Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/britain_got_talent/4935806/britains-got-talent-aliki-illness.html#ixzz2Uu2iqn8X
