The 44-year-old, who is the resident doctor on the ITV show, had a scary ordeal last year when she was taken into hospital for an abnormal heart rhythm, something she tells us was a terrifying wake-up call. Talking to us about the health panic, Zoe reveals she even made an emergency will.
“I ended up spending a night in hospital and at one point they almost had to put the paddles on my heart – not because my heart had stopped – but to try and shock it back into a normal rhythm. So they had me write an emergency will. It was very scary,” says Zoe, as she sits down for an exclusive chat with us.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1583506613/1741065663/articles/kax8D-7Mv1741067870223/0670414192.jpg]
“I had to, for the first time, consider my own mortality. I didn’t think I was going to die, but I also didn’t feel completely certain that I wasn’t going to die in that scenario, hence the makeshift will.”
Thankfully, Zoe says she has been assured by doctors that the scare isn’t anything to worry about. However, it has given her a new outlook on life and living stress-free.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1583506613/1741065663/articles/kax8D-7Mv1741067870223/6609272460.jpg]
“Since then, I’ve had a procedure which means that won’t happen again and I’ve been reassured by the cardiologist that it’s not anything I’ve done, my heart is actually very healthy. It's just a thing where some people are unlucky. But in some ways I’m glad that happened to me, it’s been a bit of a gift as it gets you thinking about the things that matter.
“At the time, I thought, ‘Is it caffeine? Is it stress?’ and it turns out it was probably none of those things. But in those few weeks before I saw the cardiologist, I thought, ‘I can’t afford to be stressed any more.’ “I realised I had to let go of things in my life that were causing stress. It got me looking at my diet and nutrition, and how much alcohol I drink. It was like, ‘How can I just tweak those things to just be a bit healthier?’ It got me to really take a look at my life and what’s important.”
What is important to Zoe is clearly her family, as she lights up when chatting to us about her three-year-old son, Lisbon, who she shares with her recruitment consultant partner Stuart McKay.
Last year, the trio packed up their life in the UK and relocated abroad in an effort to spend more quality time together.
“We packed up our home and put it in storage, which was a really scary thing to do – to leave our family and friends behind,” she says. “I think we’ve learned a lot about ourselves as a family, as people and as individuals, and it’s helped us really figure out what we want longer term.
“We’re coming back to the UK in April and we know now that we don’t want to live in London any more; we want to live closer to nature.”
While Zoe has a tight-knit family bond, she’s not one to shy away from the challenging times as she mentions “ups and downs” when chatting about the past few years.
One of which is her integration into motherhood, which she admits wasn’t ea...
“I ended up spending a night in hospital and at one point they almost had to put the paddles on my heart – not because my heart had stopped – but to try and shock it back into a normal rhythm. So they had me write an emergency will. It was very scary,” says Zoe, as she sits down for an exclusive chat with us.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1583506613/1741065663/articles/kax8D-7Mv1741067870223/0670414192.jpg]
“I had to, for the first time, consider my own mortality. I didn’t think I was going to die, but I also didn’t feel completely certain that I wasn’t going to die in that scenario, hence the makeshift will.”
Thankfully, Zoe says she has been assured by doctors that the scare isn’t anything to worry about. However, it has given her a new outlook on life and living stress-free.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1583506613/1741065663/articles/kax8D-7Mv1741067870223/6609272460.jpg]
“Since then, I’ve had a procedure which means that won’t happen again and I’ve been reassured by the cardiologist that it’s not anything I’ve done, my heart is actually very healthy. It's just a thing where some people are unlucky. But in some ways I’m glad that happened to me, it’s been a bit of a gift as it gets you thinking about the things that matter.
“At the time, I thought, ‘Is it caffeine? Is it stress?’ and it turns out it was probably none of those things. But in those few weeks before I saw the cardiologist, I thought, ‘I can’t afford to be stressed any more.’ “I realised I had to let go of things in my life that were causing stress. It got me looking at my diet and nutrition, and how much alcohol I drink. It was like, ‘How can I just tweak those things to just be a bit healthier?’ It got me to really take a look at my life and what’s important.”
What is important to Zoe is clearly her family, as she lights up when chatting to us about her three-year-old son, Lisbon, who she shares with her recruitment consultant partner Stuart McKay.
Last year, the trio packed up their life in the UK and relocated abroad in an effort to spend more quality time together.
“We packed up our home and put it in storage, which was a really scary thing to do – to leave our family and friends behind,” she says. “I think we’ve learned a lot about ourselves as a family, as people and as individuals, and it’s helped us really figure out what we want longer term.
“We’re coming back to the UK in April and we know now that we don’t want to live in London any more; we want to live closer to nature.”
While Zoe has a tight-knit family bond, she’s not one to shy away from the challenging times as she mentions “ups and downs” when chatting about the past few years.
One of which is her integration into motherhood, which she admits wasn’t ea...
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New UK (Digital) - 1 Issue, March 10, 2025