Former Aussie Wheel of Fortune hostess dies

Adriana Xenides' 18-year run on Wheel of Fortune is still an Australian record. Photo / Getty Images

Adriana Xenides, once the glamorous hostess of Australian television game show Wheel of Fortune, has been remembered as a "class act" following her death yesterday.

Xenides, 54, passed away after reportedly suffering a ruptured intestine.

She had been admitted with a stomach complaint, part of "ongoing intestinal problems", a few days earlier.

Her former co-host John Burgess, who visited her at the hospital on Sunday, confirmed her passing in a statement issued to the Seven Network.

"It's incredibly sad, she was a great friend and a TV legend," he said.

The former model and television celebrity, who was born in Argentina and grew up in Adelaide, first appeared on Wheel of Fortune in 1981 at age 22.

Seven's Director of Programming and Production Tim Worner said Xenides "brought something very special to the show".

"Adriana was a wonderful performer," he said in a statement.

"Her charm and her warmth were always shining brightly and she was her bubbly self with one and all - the same with contestants, audience members or crew.

"The lady was a class act and her many friends at Seven will miss her.

"We are really sad to hear the news and our thoughts are with Adriana's family and friends."

Her 18-year run on the show is still an Australian record, and she didn't miss an episode until November 1996 when she fell ill with a recurring stomach virus.

"I have never missed an episode of Wheel but under doctor's instructions, I have to take a break from the show," she said in a statement at the time.

"I have had a gastro viral infection which I haven't been able to shake for several months so it's definitely time to rest."

Xenides went public with her illness in a television interview in 2007, describing the pain as "so hard it takes you down to your knees".

The symptoms caused her stomach to swell to almost double its normal size.

"I looked as if I was nine months pregnant, and then from then, I thought my goodness what's wrong, and they started investigating," she told the Seven Network.

At one point, she said the digestive disorder almost claimed her life when she suffered haemorrhaging.

"I was dying and I remember being on life support and saying what's going what's happening?"

Xenides retired from television in 1996 but later appeared as a panellist on talk show Beauty and the Beast, and Celebrity Big Brother Australia during 2002.

In 2006 she managed to avoid a fine for dangerous driving when a Sydney court accepted she had fallen on hard times.

Xenides was disqualified from driving for 18 months after pleading guilty to one count of dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm over a crash in Sydney in 2005.

She blamed the head-on crash on an "uncontrollable attack of continuous sneezes" and the glare of the setting sun.

The magistrate decided not to fine her because of her "financial position".

"I don't think I've fallen from grace. I don't feel that way," she told reporters outside the court.

- AAP