HER NEW CHAPTER

She's survived a breakdown, a broken heart and the death of her beloved dad, but Amor Vittone is ready to face whatever the future holds

- ELRI BOUCHER

SHE'S looking good in a red satin blouse, black pants and stilettos, her smile is in place and locks of hair curl over her shoulders.

In other words, it's vintage Amor Vittone - all glossy and groomed and posing confidently for the cameras.

But the 51-year-old singer and actress has been to hell and back over the past few months.

She had a nervous breakdown, then her relationship with the new man in her life fell apart and last month her beloved father died a week after having heart surgery.

Amor has only just started to feel like she's back on an even keel, she tells us and now she's preparing for another big change in her life.

She's saying goodbye to the home she's lived in for the past 18 years the home in Dainfern, Midrand, she and Springbok rugby star Joost van der Westhuizen bought before all the drama began, the home where she raised her two children through all the ups and downs.

Life goes on, Amor says. With every chapter that closes, a new one begins and she's feeling strong enough to handle whatever comes next.

THINGS started falling apart about a year ago when she found herself unable to sleep night after night. She was anxious and felt "terribly alone".

"The voices in my head were telling me I'm a bad mom," she says, wiping away a tear. "I wanted to get away from it. I just wanted to sleep."

The solution was sleeping pills - but one pill became two, then two became three. "My body then had a bad reaction to the medication and I had a breakdown."

She has no memory of it but daughter Kylie (17) told her how she'd discovered her. "She said she found me in my bedroom lying half on the bed and half on the floor. There was blood because I'd bitten my tongue and I was choking.

Kylie called for help and Amor was taken to hospital, where she spent three weeks and a psychiatrist helped her get her mental health back on track.