'I didn't tell anyone': Alexandra Burke reveals battle with secret illness during final weeks of Strictly Come Dancing

The X Factor winner also opened up about feeling 'attacked' by negative stories in the press
Not well: Alexandra Burke has revealed battle with secret illness during Strictly
BBC

Alexandra Burke has revealed she was suffering from an illness she kept secret during the final weeks of Strictly Come Dancing last year.

The X Factor winner was a contestant in the 2017 series of the BBC ballroom show, which took place shortly after the death of her mum.

Burke told HuffPost UK that she was "really sick" during the closing stages of the competition.

"I'm not going to lie to you, it was bloody difficult.

“I was in the studio every single day while doing Strictly and I had to stop towards the end because I got really, really sick during the last three weeks of Strictly, which I didn't tell anyone about."

She also opened up about struggling with negative stories in the press about her rumoured clashes with other contestants and diva behaviour.

"That, for me, came out of the blue [and] felt to a degree... like it was a bit personal, and a slight attack," Burke said.

Strictly Come Dancing 2017 - In pictures

1/14

"I was staying quiet, in the hope that it would just go away. I'd gone through so much that's so much bigger than all that in the past six months, and that's why I didn't reply.

“My brother just kept saying to me, 'Look what you've gone through, and you're still standing. Leave it, and don't speak up, and don't say anything'."

Strictly Come Dancing returns to the BBC later this year.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in