Leslie Ash set to make her TV comeback on This Morning after fearing she would never work again following decade-long health battle

By Ciara Farmer For Mailonline

Published: 05:30 EST, 6 September 2015 | Updated: 09:44 EST, 6 September 2015

She was told she would never work again after contracting a terrifying and debilitating strain of the MRSA superbug.

But now actress Leslie Ash is set to blaze the comeback trail after bagging a presenting role on ITV's This Morning.

The 55-year-old actress, who famously suffered a permanently damaging allergic reaction to lip fillers, will front a segment about botched cosmetic surgery set to air on Tuesday.

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She's back! Leslie Ash is set to blaze the comeback trail after bagging a presenting role on ITV show This Morning, which is set to air on Tuesday

She's back! Leslie Ash is set to blaze the comeback trail after bagging a presenting role on ITV show This Morning, which is set to air on Tuesday

After her diagnosis in 2004, she was told she would be paralysed, but against all odds Leslie can now walk short distances without assistance and is ready to return to TV screens.

The star is set to apply her own experience to presenting the piece after her devastating experience in 2002 which saw her face permanently changed due to a botched cosmetic procedure.

After a friend's mother administered a lip-enhancement injection on the TV star, her damaged face left her open to ridicule, after her new lips were famously dubbed a 'Trout Pout'.

She tells the Sunday Mirror : 'What I thought was just a normal filler turned out to be industrial silicone and my body wasn't breaking it down, so I had big problem. I should have done my homework... It was an unregulated filler and I paid the price.'

Back to work: The 55-year-old actress, who famously suffered a permanently damaging allergic reaction to lip fillers, will front a segment about botched cosmetic surgery

Back to work: The 55-year-old actress, who famously suffered a permanently damaging allergic reaction to lip fillers, will front a segment about botched cosmetic surgery

Leslie, who enjoyed huge fame in the 1990s in Men Behaving Badly, has not appeared on TV screens since a brief stint on BBC's Holby City in 2010 and an appearance on Celebrity Masterchef last year.

Her segment on This Morning will see Leslie meet a woman who has been left scarred from an eye-lift, where too much skin was removed and she now cannot close her eyes. 

Another guest set to share a surgery story with Leslie is a woman who came close to death after she contracted an infection following a tummy tuck. 

Fighting back: After her diagnosis of MRSA in 2004, she was told she would be paralysed but against all odds Leslie can now walk with assistance and is ready to return to TV screens

Fighting back: After her diagnosis of MRSA in 2004, she was told she would be paralysed but against all odds Leslie can now walk with assistance and is ready to return to TV screens

In 2004 Leslie contracted MSSA, a strain of the superbug MRSA, while being treated in hospital for cracked ribs and a punctured lung.

Rumours suggested the injuries were caused by a domestic row with footballer husband Lee Chapman, however, Leslie was adamant they were the result of an energetic sex session.

Doctors believed the MSSA bug would kill her and when she survived they said she would be paralysed and in constant pain.

Happy couple: Rumours suggested her cracked ribs and a punctured lung were contracted during a domestic row with husband Lee Chapman, however, Leslie was adamant they were the result of an energetic sex session

Happy couple: Rumours suggested her cracked ribs and a punctured lung were contracted during a domestic row with husband Lee Chapman, however, Leslie was adamant they were the result of an energetic sex session

Terrifying ordeal: Doctors believed the MRSA bug would kill her and when she survived they said she would be paralysed and in constant pain

Terrifying ordeal: Doctors believed the MRSA bug would kill her and when she survived they said she would be paralysed and in constant pain

She told MailOnline in June: ‘That was scary.To be told just before you were being put under anaesthetic that you might not actually pull through, and that if you did you wouldn’t walk.

'My surgeon had to cut through two vertebrae to stop the infection from galloping up my spine to my brain.’ 

Despite her terrifying ordeal, where the hospital dished out £5million in compensation, Leslie is now fighting fit and ready to work again.

In 2008, the star made, Leslie Ash: Face to Face an ITV documentary about unregulated cosmetic surgery, which will no doubt echo in her This Morning piece.

Ready to return: In 2008, the star made, Leslie Ash: Face to Face an ITV documentary about unregulated cosmetic surgery, which will no doubt echo in her This Morning piece

Ready to return: In 2008, the star made, Leslie Ash: Face to Face an ITV documentary about unregulated cosmetic surgery, which will no doubt echo in her This Morning piece

Heydey: Leslie (pictured bottom left) enjoyed huge fame in the 1990s in beloved sitcom Men Behaving Badly

Heydey: Leslie (pictured bottom left) enjoyed huge fame in the 1990s in beloved sitcom Men Behaving Badly

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