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Daisy Lowe reveals Strictly Come Dancing appearance led to burnout and breakdown

Jay Brooks/BBC
Jay Brooks/BBC

Daisy Lowe has said her time on Strictly Come Dancing led to burnout and a breakdown after she struggled to deal with the death of her beloved grandfather.

The model, 31, appeared on the BBC dance competition in 2016 and was paired with Aljaz Skorjanec, eventually leaving the contest in its eighth week.

Though her time on the show was “the greatest experience in [her] career,” she told The Wagon podcast that she struggled after her grandfather passed away on her first day of training.

After appearing on Strictly, Lowe packed her schedule with work commitments but was “struggling” and “clutching at straws,” she told host John McKeown.

“I was frightening myself,” she said. “I was having heart palpitations and I was quite shaky and talking very quickly. I got to Christmas and I just broke.

“The strangest thing happened. I think that I was so burned out that I lost the ability to speak. All I could really say was ‘I’m sad’ or ‘I’m scared’ or ‘I feel really anxious.’

“Eventually I was like, ‘God, is this going to last forever?’

“I’d been to the doctors and I was signed off work with clinical depression.”

Lowe said that Strictly was the
Lowe said that Strictly was the

After also grappling with insomnia, losing her appetite and her hair “falling out,” Lowe decided to attend a rehab centre in Ibiza - but ended up struggling with burnout once again after returning to the UK and returning to work.

Just a few months later, she went back to rehab and “got more out of [her] second stint because [she] wasn’t afraid to be there.”

“In the group therapy I really dealt with some old issues, old resentments,” she said. “Before my burnout I really struggled with anger.”

The star said that speaking out about mental health problems helps break the “stigma,” telling the podcast: “I don’t know anyone who doesn't struggle with their mental health, be it addiction, burnout, depression.

“Everyone experiences it. Whether they admit it is another thing.”

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