Emotional lady Kelly Holmes reveals she fell silent after the death of her mother Pam and “felt numb with grief”.

Dame Kelly Holmes has revealed how she remained mute for three weeks after the death of her mother Pam Norman.

The 53-year-old Olympian was devastated when her mother died of myeloma, a type of blood cancer, in 2017.

During her appearance on Thursday’s Loose Women, Kelly gave an insight into her overwhelming grief in the weeks following her mother’s death and how it manifested itself through physical symptoms.

Kelly told the judges, “I found the first few years without her extremely tough.” When I knew the anniversary was coming, I was petrified because I was suffering so much from the grief. I was deaf at every stage.

“When I saw August 7th on a calendar, I knew how much it touched me that day and I still had that part of the sadness inside me.”

Heartbroken: Dame Kelly Holmes has revealed how she remained mute for three weeks after the death of her mother Pam Norman

Grief: The 53-year-old Olympian was devastated when her mother died of myeloma, a form of blood cancer, in 2017 (pictured at Buckingham Palace with her mother in 2005)

“After her death I was mute for about three weeks.” I didn’t get over this really intense time. I thought the same agony would come over me on this date.’

Dame Kelly, who won gold in the 800m and 1500m at the Athens 2004 Olympics, said she was very close to her mother, who raised her on a council estate in Kent, and it took her a long time to accept that gone .

The athlete’s father, an auto mechanic, ran away when she was just one year old, leaving young Pam to raise her.

The athlete spent some time in foster care as a young child because she feared her mother, who gave birth to her when she was 17, would not be able to raise a baby on her own.

While Kelly spent some time in foster care, her mother kept coming back to pick her up. She later married painter and decorator Mick Holmes, whom she considers her father, when Kelly was four years old.

Dame Kelly previously said of her mother’s death, “It was the worst day of my life.” She was only 17 years older than me, so we were very close.

“It was awful, I suffered from grief for a long time.” It took a lot of time to talk to people and make sure my friends knew I needed their closeness.

“Every day I long to be able to tell my mother what I’ve done. “We talked to each other every day.”

Achievement: Kelly won gold in the 800m and 1500m at the 2004 Athens Olympics

Guest Star: Elsewhere on the show, Kelly and the rest of the jury spoke to Strictly’s professional dancer Johannes Radebe

Impressive: Johannes and Kelly later showed their dance steps in stilettos

Amazed: Kaye Adams couldn’t believe it as she watched Kelly demonstrate her skills

Despite having a close relationship with her mother, Dame Kelly previously admitted in her documentary Being Me, released last year, that her experiences of caring have had a lasting impact.

“I grew up not trusting people because my biggest memory from being in the nursing home was the times my mom had to leave,” she said.

“You know, I used to scream out loud because I just thought she’d never come back for me.”

“She wouldn’t like to hear how much that touched me.” Yes, she would really, really hate the way I am and how it’s literally destroying me. But I know she would be so proud of me if I did.’