Kym Marsh almost quit 'Strictly Come Dancing'.
Kym Marsh almost quit Strictly Come Dancing
The 46-year-old actress revealed a crippling panic attack during rehearsals which with her professional partner Graziano Di Prima, 28, almost led to her pulling out of the BBC dance show.
She told The Sun newspaper: "It just came over me, almost out of nowhere, and I couldn’t carry on.
"I’ve always suffered from panic attacks. It’s something I don’t mind talking about because I know it can affect anyone at any time.
"Sometimes it has been ages (since an attack) and then suddenly one just hits.
"Everyone thinks that because you’re on the telly you must be amazingly confident, but the truth is that I’m not always and this is how that comes out.
“I don’t know exactly what caused it, I think I’d had some harsh comments from the judges the week before, I’ve been working other jobs at the same time too, so it’s tiring, and I just lost my confidence completely.
" I went to pieces and said ‘I don’t think I can do this’.
“At that moment I wasn’t sure I could even carry on with the show.
It’s hard to explain, you don’t see it coming. I’ve had therapy for anxiety and tried things like that but it can still just creep up, usually just when you could most do without it.
“There were a lot of tears, and a few of the other guys had to step in to help me and they cancelled the rehearsal at that point.
“Everyone was great in the crew and the production, Hamza (Yassin, wildlife presenter and fellow contestant) was especially kind.
"He just calmed me down and tried to remind me ‘We’re only dancing’."
Kym also praised her dance partner Graziano for helping her get through the panic attack.
She said: "It was Graziano who really pulled me through.
"He’s just the most incredible man and we’ve got really close, even though he had no idea who I was beforehand.
"Now he comes over to our house once a week for dinner."
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