Stress of Strictly made my hair fall out, reveals Daisy
DAISY Lowe has revealed how she had a breakdown during her stint on Strictly that put her in rehab and caused her hair to fall out.
The model, 31, said her mental health problems were caused by her demanding work schedule and the death of her grandfather.
She said the stress resulted in her losing the ability to speak and she could not sleep for four months.
Miss Lowe, who was partnered with Aljaz Skorjanec on the 2016 series of the BBC dance competition, was diagnosed with clinical depression.
She added: ‘I was having heart palpitations and I was shaky and talking very quickly. I got to Christmas and I just broke. I was so burned out that I lost the ability to speak. All I could say was, “I’m sad” or “I’m scared”.
‘I didn’t sleep for four months and my hair started falling out.’
Miss Lowe, who was seen walking her dog earlier this week near her London home wearing shorts and a black T-shirt, said taking part in Strictly was one of the ‘greatest experiences’ in her career.
But she almost quit after her grandfather Eddie Davis died on her first day on the show, she told The Sun.
Miss Lowe said: ‘I wanted to quit and come back some day after I’d grieved. But my grandmother called me and said, “Don’t you dare – go and win this for him”.
I didn’t win but I did have a wonderful time.’ Miss Lowe was voted off the show in week eight of 13 and the competition was won by BBC sports presenter Ore Oduba.
After Strictly she said she was inundated with job offers and the workload contributed to the breakdown.
Her mother, fashion designer Pearl Lowe, 50, intervened and this resulted in her checking into rehab. She recovered after therapy led her to realise that she struggled with anger.
Miss Lowe added: ‘I had suppressed it so much that it had all gone inward. I then got angry with all the people that I’d been angry with for a very long time and never said anything to.
‘I had been holding on to that stuff for a very long time and I had to expel it all in an explosion.’