Pictures: Yianni Aspradakis.

Alone and in terrible pain, the former game show host has suffered five heart attacks. Adriana tells Glen Williams how her faithful companion came to the rescue.

For years, as the undisputed queen of quiz show Wheel Of Fortune, Adriana Xenides turned as many heads as she did letters. But now, she says, her life is a daily battle of pain and heartache.

Indeed, the former TV beauty reveals she is lucky to be alive after suffering five heart attacks in the past two years.

And her only consolation is her ever-present best friend, Red, a sprightly whippet she credits with rescuing her after a collapse.

"Red saved my life," she tells Woman's Day. "I collapsed at home recently. The pain associated with my condition was so excruciating I passed out.

"When I woke up, it was dark, so some time had elapsed. I could see two gold eyes watching me and in my mouth was a wet dish cloth. I traced the marks across the floor and I couldn't believe what Red had done. She'd grabbed the dish cloth, dunked it in her water bowl, then come and put it in my mouth so I wouldn't be dehydrated. It's just amazing. I'm only here because of her."

Adriana says her health woes began with a mysterious gastro-intestinal disorder that saw her abdomen repeatedly swell to the size of that of a heavily pregnant woman. And she says she is now in constant pain following an operation to totally remove her large intestine — surgery which left her on life support and not expected to make it.