Strictly Come Dancing star Angela Rippon has been forced to pull out of a live show during the tour after suffering from an infection..
The 79-year-old is the BBC One competition’s oldest contestant, and was the eighth star to be voted out last year.
She’s now performing all over the country with partner Kai Widdrington, and the likes of Bobby Brazier, Layton Williams and Strictly winner Ellie Leach.
However, Angela was forced to pull out of some performances.
She took to Instagram to explain: ‘I’ve been off the grid for a couple of days because as some of you may know, I suffered a major medical meltdown at the beginning of the week.
‘When we were in Liverpool, I managed to pick up an infection which went straight to my chest.
‘It affected my breathing very badly and as some of you may know I do suffer from asthma.
‘On Wednesday evening, when I was about to go on and dance the cha-cha-cha, I’m afraid the infection triggered a serious asthma attack and when I started to dance I stopped breathing which was all a bit scary.
‘Not just for me but for Kai as well because I was a bit like a rag doll on the dancefloor.’
She went on: ‘Fortunately, we always have paramedics in the arenas when we perform and when I came off they gave me oxygen so I was able to breathe again.’
She added that after travelling to Leeds she was firmly advised to have two days of bed rest.
‘He put me on a very impressive regime of medication,’ she said.
Thankfully, Angela is returning to ‘dancing fit’ and ‘is ready to start ripping up the dancefloor again’ on Saturday night.
A source had previously said: ‘Angela missed a performance in Leeds on Thursday night because of a medical precaution.
‘She has been giving the tour her all but needed to take a break from dancing.
‘It’s incredible what Angela can do on the dancefloor but her health is always a priority.’
The insider added to The Sun on Friday: ‘She was advised to rest and miss a show and then see if she was up to coming back for the final night in Leeds tonight.’
Shortly after being announced as part of the Strictly line-up, Angela admitted she feared that her asthma might make things difficult.
After being diagnosed with asthma more than 50 years ago, the Rip Off Britain hose worried about it affecting her ability to perform.
‘I’m doing some breathwork. I have asthma and one of my worries is that the asthma would get in the way of my breathing – I’m doing work on that,’ she said.
She continued: ‘I’ve spoken to my friend who’s a dancer – she said I need to stop breathing through my nose and [start] to breathe through your mouth.’
Angela had previously revealed to Metro.co.uk that she’s attempted to stay fit her whole life, before proving her capabilities with some age-defying moves.
When asked how she’s still so flexible, the TV presenter simple said: ‘Because I’ve kept fit all my life.’
She went on: ‘For the job that I do, you need to be fit because you never know what you’re going to be asked to do next.
‘And a lot of the things that I’ve done in television have been very physical.
‘Nobody thought twice about asking me to go diving with great white sharks or swim with killer whales in the Arctic Circle or abseil down Table Mountain.
‘You never know what you’re going to be asked to do.’
As if that wasn’t enough to show off how fit she is, Angela added that she’s been in instances where she’s had to be on her feet for 12 hours.
‘You can’t do that unless you’re fit!’
Metro.co.uk has reached out to the BBC and to Angela’s reps for comment.
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Strictly Come Dancing is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
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