Celebrities who needed life-saving appendix surgeries

Appendicitis is an inflammation of the appendix — a finger-shaped pouch that sticks out from the colon on the lower right side of the abdomen.

The condition often causes sharp pain in the lower belly, and if left untreated, it can become life-threatening.

The standard treatment is an appendectomy, a surgery to remove the inflamed or infected appendix.

Here are the stars who faced scary appendix emergencies:

Stephen Colbert

The American host had to undergo emergency surgery after waking up one morning with excruciating abdominal pain.

While he tried to push through and even hosted his late-night show in extreme pain, Stephen ended up developing “ a raging fever” and was rushed to the hospital.

It turned out this appendix had burst and had to be immediately removed.

“You might be surprised that I’d like to thank my appendix. Because you giving me blood poisoning helped me lose 14 pounds. Ladies and gentleman, you heard it here first. Appendicitis is the new Ozempic,” Stephen joked on his show post-surgery.

Kelly Clarkson

The American singer-songwriter had a strong premonition that something was wrong with her appendix, but she was just a few days from hosting the Billboard Music Awards.

Instead of skipping the show, Kelly pushed through, but right after it concluded, she flew to Los Angeles and underwent an emergency surgery to remove her appendix.

“Not gonna lie.... I may or may not have broken down in tears after the show from pain” she wrote on social media after the surgery.

John Mayer

In 2017, the Gravity crooner experienced a health scare in the midst of wapping up a tour and had to be rushed to the hospital.

He ended up having surgery to have his appendix removed, which forced him to postpone the remaining tour dates.

“Thank you everyone for the well wishes. Had surgery yesterday and woke up to see some amazingly kind and loving tweets,” John shared on X (formerly Twitter).

Portia de Rossi

The wife of Ellen DeGeneres had an emergency appendectomy after experiencing insufferable pain just as she was going to bed in 2021.

Ellen knew something was wrong with Portia, so she drove her to the hospital, where Portia ended up having her appendix removed.

Bindi Irwin

After experiencing months of pain, the wildlife conservationist learned she would need to have her appendix removed, along with multiple lesions caused by endometriosis — a surgery Bindi had previously undergone several years earlier.