Strictly Come Dancing’s Claudia Winkleman opted out of the Halloween festive attire during last year’s edition, sticking to black rather than bewitching costumes.
However, there is a poignant reason behind Claudia’s reluctance to don Halloween outfits as her young daughter was badly injured in an accident in 2014.
Claudia’s daughter Matilda, who was eight at the time, was left with serious burn injuries while trick-or-treating when a flame from a candle cuaght her costume and caused severe damage to her legs, and led to their neighbour Jamie Poulton sustaining second-degree burns as he tried to extinguish the blaze.
Claudia, shaken by the incident, temporarily withdrew from her presenting role on Strictly to be with her family as they dealt with the aftermath. Since then, Halloween has become a time of year that holds no cheerful memories for her.
In a heartfelt interview with The Mail, Claudia opened up about why she recoils from the October holiday: “I don’t like Halloween because [a few] years ago it turned out our screams were real. She ‘went up’ is the only way I can describe it – it was a spark, and she screamed out for me,” reports the Mirror.
Reflecting on the frightening event, she elaborated on the horrifying speed of the ordeal: “It was like those horrific birthday candles that you blow out and they come back. It was really fast. It was definitely life-changing for me.”
Claudia was deeply affected by her daughter’s horrific accident and turned to her close friend, child psychologist Tanya Byron, for help. Sharing her experiences on their podcast How Did We Get Here? the Strictly host revealed: “You helped me with flashbacks. I had flashbacks of when my daughter had an accident and they come at you like a bull.”
She added: “Like a tsunami, it’s so enormous you think you’re going to drown. So you have to shove it to one side.”
Reflecting on the chilling fire incident, Claudia’s neighbour Jamie said: “It was like a potential horror film in front of me. This material just keeps reigniting and re-burning. And it is sticky, so it melts on the skin. It was horrific.”
Years after undergoing that ordeal, Claudia achieved a milestone in her campaign for safer children’s fancy dress costumes. Thanks to her efforts, the British Retail Consortium agreed on new voluntary guidelines declaring that fabrics used for kids’ costumes should not catch fire faster than 10mm per second, which is a notable improvement from the current legal limit of 30mm per second.
Strictly Come Dancing is on BBC One and BBC iPlayer