Strictly star hospitalised with suspected ‘tropical disease’

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.’

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.

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 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’.