CITV presenter hit by tragic loss of baby daughter on making her TV comeback - after being told she was on the 'wrong side of 40'

At the age of 19, Danielle Nicholls shot to fame as the face of ITV's children's television channel CITV. Following a career gap after becoming a 'stay-at-home mum' and the tragic loss of her 17-month-old daughter, she's now enjoying a triumphant comeback.

Danielle is back on our screens after being brutally told last year, at the age of 43, that she was on 'the wrong side of 40' to be relaunching her career. The singer and model, from Swinton, was first discovered by producer Steve Ryde and she presented the daily kids channel, which launched the likes of the Teletubbies, alongside Stephen Mulhern from 1998 until 2001.

After three years at the channel she worked as a presenter on the Channel 5 celebrity karaoke show, Night Fever. By 2012, Danielle had three children with her husband, Dean Holden, who is currently manager of Charlton Athletic and an ex-boss of Oldham Athletic.

READ MORE: Join the FREE Manchester Evening News WhatsApp community

But, in that year, the family were hit by tragedy when their daughter, Cici, died after they arrived on holiday in Lanzarote. Cici had suffered meningococcal septicemia - a bacterial infection which causes blood poisoning, leading to sepsis.

She was rushed to a clinic on the island, where a helicopter was waiting to take her to the nearest intensive care unit. Within three hours, Cici had tragically passed away.

Two weeks after the devastating loss, Danielle says she did the 'worst' job interview. She recalled that after returning home to her family: "I looked at the other kids and said to Dean 'I can't go on telly pretending I'm happy.'"

After Cici's death, Danielle and Dean went on to have two more children - nine-year-old Mitzi and five-year-old Chase, joining Joey and