Compilation image of Saffron Barker alongside a picture of a rash on her arm
Saffron Barker was hospitalised after a rash spread across her body(Picture: REX/saffronbarker)

Strictly Come Dancing contestant Saffron Barker has revealed she was hospitalised with a suspected ‘tropical disease’.

The 24-year-old – who was the first female social media influencer to make it onto the BBC show in 2019 – posted a series of updates on her Instagram Stories on Thursday showing her skin covered in a red rash, an IV drip coming from her arm and bloody bruises where blood had been drawn by medics.

She said in a caption alongside an image of her lying in bed in pyjamas: ‘Thank you so much for all your well wishes, after a week I finally feel somewhat normal again.

‘The doctors thought I’d caught a tropical disease from a mosquito when I was away.

‘I had all the symptoms being, rashes all over my body, headache, body aches, shooting pains in my body, temperature, sore throat and ears etc.’

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In the next of three Instagram Story posts Saffron posted an image of a needle and drip hooked to her arm – and told fans she hadn’t contracted malaria.

Saffron Barker
She was hospitalised and has only just started to get back to normal after a week (Picture: James Veysey/REX/Shutterstock)

AJ Pritchard and Saffron Barker dancing together
Saffron was on the BBC dancing show in 2019 (Picture: PA)

Saffron Barker's arm with a rash
She got a rash all over her body (Picture: Saffron Barker/Instagram)

She went on: ‘After getting my bloods taken turns out I didn’t have that but my white blood cells were half the number they should be so very low and therefore my whole body was trying to fight the infection.’

Against a shot of her arm covered in an angry rash, Saffron said: ‘This is what the rashes looked like all over my body.’

In a fourth post on her health scare she shared an image of her in the bath showing her arm with less of a rash.

She captioned it: ‘Today is the first day I have woken up and they are settling so feeling grateful.’

Saffron Barker's arm in on a drip
Doctors took her bloods and found she was hugely lacking in white blood cells (Picture: Saffron Barker/Instagram)

Saffron Barker wearing pyjamas
Doctors think she picked up the suspected tropical disease from a mosquito – though it was not malaria (Picture: Saffron Barker/Instagram)

Saffron Barker's arm
She is thankfully feeling better now (Picture: Saffron Barker/Instagram)

Saffron sought medical help earlier this year during a skiing holiday in January following a painful fall.

It’s been a tumultuous few years of health for the star since appearing on Strictly alongside dance partner AJ Pritchard in 2019, as last year her brother Casey suffered a ‘major heart attack’ aged 27 and was admitted to hospital.

Casey made it to the hospital ‘just in time’ to save him, and Saffron said they were ‘lucky he [is] still here’.

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