TV Host Reveals She Was Almost Paralyzed After Reality Show Stunt

Denise van Outen’s stint on Strictly Come Dancing nearly left her paralyzed. The actress and presenter competed on the hit British dance contest, a version of Dancing With the Stars, in 2012, recently revealing that she had to undergo “major surgery” after she sustained a serious injury during the competition.

“When I took part in 2012, a disc dislodged into my spinal cord and I needed an operation,” van Outen revealed in a recent interview with the Daily Star. “I was told that if the disc had gone into my spinal cord slightly more, I would have been paralyzed from the neck down.”

This is not the first time van Outen has opened up about the injury. Speaking on Channel 4’s Steph’s Packed Lunch last year, van Outen shared that she has “a scar on my neck […] from an injury I had years ago just after Strictly Come Dancing.” At the time, the presenter explained that she was injured when she “fell on my head and slipped three discs into my spinal cord, so I had quite major surgery.” Van Outen added, “Now it’s all out in the open I don’t have to make excuses. It was such a personal thing for me at the time, quite a major surgery with quite a lot of rehabilitation, so I kept it private.” Speaking to Lorraine Kelly about the incident, van Outen said that “the rehabilitation was quite a long time, but I kept it very private just because as much as I’m out there and I talk about things, there are some things in my life that I do like to keep private.” She assured her fans that she is “fine now.”

The presenter competed on the BBC One ballroom and Latin show in 2012 alongside pro dancing partner James Jordan. After sustaining the injury, van Outen continued on with the competition, performing in the show’s final. She and Jordan finished as a runner-up alongside Kimberley Walsh and Pasha Kovalev.

Unfortunately, the Strictly Come Dancing injury was not the last for van Outen, who revealed to the Daily Star that she also suffered an injury when she took part in Dancing on Ice two years ago. According to van Outen, she “fractured my shoulder in three parts.” Van Outen, however, has no hard feelings about the injuries, sharing, “I can’t blame anybody – I was in shows knowing there was a risk.”