Studio 10’s Tristan MacManus on heart attack No.2: ‘Three strikes and you are out’

The sporty host revealed his greatest fear after going through his second episode: “I couldn’t think of anything else that would be more scary than not seeing my kids grow up”

The fact he’s just 38 and already had two heart attacks is always at the back of Tristan MacManus’s mind.

The sporty and fit television host and former professional dancer says however that he won’t let fear rule, determined to live a full life with his wife and children.

“Three strikes and you are out,” the Studio 10 host told Confidential.

Studio 10’s Tristan MacManus with (from left) Angela Bishop, Sarah Harris and Narelda Jacobs.

“There will always be that fear. I couldn’t think of anything else that would be more scary than not seeing my kids grow up.”

He continued: “I assumed heart attacks were for people who didn’t look after themselves … obviously it’s an uneducated assumption.”

Irishman MacManus is married to Australian filmmaker Tahyna Tozzi. The couple are parents to four-year-old daughter Echo and one-year-old son Oisin and have a third child due in April.

MacManus had his first heart attack at around 26 when he was working as a professional dancer in Las Vegas. His grandfather, who he never knew, died of a heart attack at 36.

“I woke up and I was on the ground,” he recalled.

Studio 10 host and former Dancing With The Stars judge Tristan MacManus. Picture: Jonathan Ng

“To be honest, they didn’t really tell me there was anything wrong with my heart so I didn’t really think anything of it.”

MacManus’s second heart attack was two years ago, a few weeks after his 36th birthday.

“I just started beating my chest, I could feel my heart in my head,” he said. “I felt tingles down my arms.”
Again, MacManus was taken to hospital where doctors confirmed he had suffered another heart attack. There, he was diagnosed with myopericarditis, which is inflammation of the heart muscle and the pericardium.

“Your arteries are supposed to sit on top of your heart, it turns out mine go through my heart,” the former Dancing With The Stars judge explained.

“So if there is any sort of inflammation or whatnot in my body, it tightens up and blocks the blood passages and airwaves.”

Fortunately MacManus didn’t have to undergo any operations, nor did doctors put him on any ongoing medications.

He is however far more conscious of maintaining his health.

“Everything changes when you have kids,” he said. “I’ve had a great life. On reflection, none of it means anything without my family.”

MacManus urged other men to listen to their bodies and get their hearts checked.

“The technology has come so far that we are only cheating ourselves if we don’t get checked out,” he said. “I lived with no consequence before. I am accountable now, where I wasn’t before.”

Tristan MacManus pictured with wife Tahyna and kids Echo and Oisin. Picture: Toby Zerna