SHOWBAND SINGER EILEEN Reid opened up about her unplanned pregnancy on TV today, revealing how she had “cried to the Sacred Heart picture” after becoming pregnant.
Speaking on the TV3 Midday panel, she also opened up about multiple affairs during the showband era.
She had been unfaithful to her husband, Jimmy Day, for “probably going on for nearly 15 or 20 years,” Reid said.
Regarding her pregnancy, she said:
“I became pregnant, nearly in the beginning when I started the affair, and it was terrible for Jimmy.
“I never heard of the word abortion. I was looking for help and I didn’t want to tell my family.
“There are probably loads of girls out there that had the same thing happen.
“When the gun was put to my head and I was pregnant. I prayed and cried to the sacred heart picture.
“The next morning I had a miscarriage. I was only two months gone.”
‘Finding God’
The singer also spoke about how she found religion, telling the panel:
“It was unbelievable the way God came into my life, people in show business never talk about God.
“I had to tell Jimmy and he was great.
“It’s the greatest thing that ever happened to me. God showed me things because I was open. It was miraculous.”
Her story struck a chord with viewers, with one contacting the show to say her mother had given birth to her when she was aged just 19.
“It was a big shock and it wasn’t very welcomed,” the viewer said.
“Twenty three years later I’m a secondary school teacher and the others in the family all say they don’t know what the family would be like without me. Eileen fair play for your honesty.”
Another simply said the singer’s story had touched her “very deeply”.
“She’s no idea how much I empathise with that pain she felt. I’d listen to her all day long! Fabulous story teller.”
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