James and Ola Jordan have bravely shared their heartbreak in their first TV interview about their ‘devastating’ miscarriage on Channel 5’s new show Vanessa on Tuesday. 

The pair – who share daughter Ella, five – opened up about their heartbreaking ordeal which occurred back in 2023 to host Vanessa Feltz, 63, on her brand new daytime programme.  

Three years into their IVF journey the couple decided to try for another baby after the birth of their daughter.  

The NHS website defines a miscarriage as ‘the loss of a pregnancy during the first 23 weeks’, while IVF is a medical procedure in which a woman has an already-fertilised egg inserted into her womb to become pregnant.

Speaking to Vanessa, Ola – who appeared on Strictly between 2006 and 2015 – said: ‘We put embryo in and we had a lovely news, we had the positive result, amazing. 

‘Unfortunately we went in, with IVF you go in at eight weeks in the pregnancy to see if there’s a heartbeat…

James and Ola Jordan share heartbreak in first TV interview about ‘devastating’ miscarriage – recounting moment they found out their baby’s heart had stopped

The couple met bac kin 1999 and tied the knot four years later 

‘We went in and there was no heartbeat. it was very heartbreaking for us, devastating. 

‘I think I’m okay to talk about it now, if you’d have asked me about it last year about it, I probably wouldn’t be able to sit here and talk about it so openly.’ 

She added: ‘We went in and suddenly everything went quiet in knew something wasn’t right. 

‘We had a miscarriage at eight weeks. 

‘But it was something called missed miscarriage, where we still have your embryo inside and unfortunately it’s not growing and it’s not survived because there is no heartbeat.

‘They refer you to the NHS and the NHS confirmed there is no heartbeat. 

‘But they don’t remove it, they don’t give you a pill, they have to wait another week so they’re basically sitting there for another week.’

James, who was on Strictly as a professional dancer between 2006 and 2013, then explained that after confirmation of no heartbeat, they have options, and they decided to get the fetus removed. 

Ola explained: ‘You just sit there at home hoping the heartbeat will come back, you’re going into check the heartbeat again if its going t be there maybe there’s a miracle…’

James and Ola pictured with their daughter Ella – who they welcomed into the world in 2020 

The causes of miscarriages explained – from hormonal factors to foetal abnormality

It is highly unlikely that you will ever know the actual cause of a one-off miscarriage, but most are due to the following problems:

• ABNORMAL FETUS

The most common cause of miscarriages in the first couple of months is a one-off abnormal development in the fetus, often due to chromosome anomalies. ‘It’s not as though the baby is fine one minute and suddenly dies the next,’ says Professor James Walker, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Leeds. 

‘These pregnancies fail from the outset and were never destined to succeed.’ Most miscarriages like this happen by eight weeks, although bleeding may not start until three or four weeks later, which is worth remembering in subsequent pregnancies. ‘If a scan at eight weeks shows a healthy heart beat, you have a 95 per cent chance of a successful pregnancy,’ says Professor Walker.

• HORMONAL FACTORS

A hormonal blip could cause a sporadic miscarriage and never be a problem again. However, a small number of women who have long cycles and irregular periods may suffer recurrent miscarriages because the lining of the uterus is too thin, making implantation difficult. 

Unfortunately, hormone treatment is not terribly successful. 

‘There used to be a trend for progesterone treatment, but trials show this really doesn’t work,’ warns Professor Walker. ‘There is some evidence that injections of HCG (human chorionic gonadotrophin, a hormone released in early pregnancy) can help, but it’s not the answer for everyone.’ The treatment must be started as soon as the pregnancy is confirmed, at around four or five weeks.

• AGE 

For women over 40, one in four women who become pregnant will miscarry. One in four women of all ages miscarry, but these figures include women who don’t know that they are pregnant. Of women who do know that they’re pregnant, the figure is one in six. Once you’re over 40, and know that you’re pregnant, the figure rises to one in four.

• AUTO-IMMUNE BLOOD DISORDERS

Around 20 per cent of recurrent miscarriers suffer from lupus or a similar auto-immune disorder that causes blood clots to form in the developing placenta. 

A simple blood test, which may need to be repeated several times, can reveal whether or not this is the problem.’One negative test does not mean that a women is okay,’ warns Mr Roy Farquharson, consultant gynaecologist who runs an early pregnancy unit at the Liverpool Women’s Hospital. 

Often pregnancy can be a trigger for these disorders, so a test should be done as soon as possible,’ he adds.But it can easily be treated with low dose aspirin or heparin injections, which help to thin the blood and prevent blood clots forming – a recent trial also showed that women do equally well on either. ”We have a 70 per cent live birth rate in women treated for these disorders,’ says Dr Farquharson, ‘which is excellent.’

• OTHER CAUSES

While uterine abnormalities, such as fibroids, can cause a miscarriage, many women have no problems carrying a pregnancy to term. An incompetent cervix can also cause miscarriage at around 20 weeks. 

While this can be treated by a special sтιтch in the cervix, trials suggest it is not particularly successful, although it may delay labour by a few weeks.Gene and chromosomal abnormalities, which can be detected by blood tests, may also cause recurrent miscarriages in a small number of couples. 

A procedure known as preimplantation genetic diagnosis can help. After in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), a single cell is taken from the developing embryo and tested for the gene defect. Only healthy embryos are then replaced in the womb.

 It is an expensive and stressful procedure – and pregnancy rates tend to be quite low – but for some this is preferable to repeated miscarriages or a genetically abnormal baby.

 

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The third and final embryo was unsuccessful, so at the end of 2024 they went through tests and were told that there would only be a 5% chance of having a healthy baby. 

‘Between us we sat down and decided we just need to leave it,’ Ola said. 

‘We’ve got Ella, we’re very fortunate,’ James added.  

The stars welcomed their daughter into the world in February 2020.  

It came after the couple announced they were expecting their first child in September 2019 after a painful three-year battle with infertility.  

The television personality pair underwent IVF (in vitro fertilisation) and Ola fell pregnant during their first round.  

Prior to conceiving, Ola said: ‘I would love to be a mum with all my heart and I just thought it would happen naturally.

‘I guess I just thought like most women that I could choose when the time was right for me.’

James added: ‘We had some tests and it looks like IVF will be our best chance of conceiving.’ 

Speaking during an appearing on Loose Women in January, James said: ‘My parents didn’t even know it took us three years [to conceive], it made them teary. You don’t want to worry them.’

Ola said: ‘We used to laugh it off, but after a while, you think, “How much can you practice?”

‘People guessed [that there was an issue]… it was our fault because we kept saying that we wanted to have babies, so people kept asking.’

James continued: ‘We’ve been with each other for 20 years. We have a strong relationship. It was upsetting. I broke down in front of everyone when I was on Dancing On Ice when they brought it up.’

The couple announced they were expecting a baby girl in December 2019.

They said their little one was ‘dancing’ in Ola’s 12-week scan.

She told HELLO! magazine: ‘When we had the scan it was funny because the baby was dancing. 

‘I’m not sure if it was a cha-cha or a jive, but it was definitely dancing.’

James said he and Ola had not wanted to ‘jinx anything’ after undergoing IVF, adding: ‘Because we were quite nervous going through IVF we didn’t want to jinx anything… 

‘Now we know it’s a little girl it just feels very real now. It’s amazing.’

Ola joked that her husband would be a ‘terrible birthing partner’ and said James was ‘more scared’ than her about the labour process.

‘I don’t know what to expect with the birth – I’m scared, but millions and millions of women do it, so it can’t be that bad surely?’ she said.

‘But James is more scared than me, more afraid. He’ll be a terrible birthing partner!

‘He’s very protective of me – even now, when I’m just walking around. He’s making sure I don’t fall. 

‘So if things don’t go the way they should [during the birth], I think he will start panicking.’ 

James and Polish-born Ola first met at a dance compeтιтion in Blackpool in 1999 and married four years later.

They were initially dance partners before their professional relationship developed into romance.

James proposed two years later and the couple tied the knot in October 2003.

The pair recently celebrated their daughter Ella’s fifth birthday. 

Ola wrote on Instagram: ‘Happy 5th birthday to our Ella!

‘Five years ago you came into this world and changed everything in the most beautiful way possible.

;Form the moment we held you in our arms, we knew our life would never ben the same.

‘You’ve filled our hearts with love, joy and laughter than we could have ever imagined. 

‘Watching you grow and discover the world around you has been the greatest gift. 

‘Your curious spirit, your cheeky personality and the way you love so deeply – it makes us incredible proud to be your parents.

‘We are constantly amazed by how much you’ve learned, how kind and caring you are, and how you make every day brighter just by being you.’  

Vanessa airs weekdays at 12:30pm on 5, produced by ITN Productions