Model Nielsen ill

CELEBRITY Big Brother contestant Brigitte Nielsen has been rushed to a New York hospital after suffering an apparent asthma attack.

The six-foot-two-inch actress was driving through the city when she began to hyperventilate.

Her co-star on a US reality show, pint-sized Public Enemy rapper Flavour Flav, jumped out and ran between moving traffic to flag down an ambulance, according to the New York Daily News.