Strictly star suffers career-ending injury after 12 years on BBC show
A Strictly Come Dancing star is suing a theatre company after falling off stage.
A Strictly star has been forced to stop dancing after an injury (Image: BBC)
Strictly Come Dancing choreographer Kylie Hayes was left with life-changing injuries after suffering a fall off-stage at a theatre. The 41-year-old worked on the BBC dance competition for an incredible 12 series, but has now been forced to give up dancing for good after suffering an injury during rehearsals for 42nd Street at the Curve Theatre in Leicester.
Kylie was preparing for a West End run of the play when she fell, after the “clearly marked and lit” steps for dancers to move on and off the stage were allegedly unexpectedly moved. She had to leave the stage in darkness, but the usual platform had been moved and was not lit as usual.
After working with Strictly stars like Stacey Dooley and Caroline Flack on the BBC programme, and even teaching Anton Du Beke to tap dance, Kylie’s injury forced her to leave dancing behind and she is now suing the theatre company with Express Solicitors.
She tore her hermusculotendinous junction, the joint between her Achilles tendon and calf muscle, which meant she had to be signed off work for a year.
The dancer was also suffering from extreme fatigue which sadly meant she would likely never be able to dance competitively again. She had to wear a 24/7 boot – including in bed and in the shower – and inject herself with anti-DVT blood clot medications for several weeks, all while her husband supported her financially.
She said: “It was absolutely devastating. Everything I had ever known had been ripped away from me in seconds.
Kylie is now suing the theatre company (Image: Kylie Hayes)
“People say break a leg on stage but I never dreamed I would be the one to fall and it cost me my career. Dance isn’t just a career it’s my essence it’s who I am and my whole identity and all I have ever known since I was two.
“To me not dancing is like having an amputation and losing a limb as I can’t use my feet anymore for what I was born to do. I am now grieving a career I once had. I lived for the stage, the buzz, the excitement the audience and all that was taken from me in that instant when I fell off that stage.”
Theatre company 42nd Street 2023 Ltd. has admitted liability for the accident, while Kylie is now working as a receptionist and massage therapist close to her Devon home.
