Denise Van Outen almost ‘paralysed from neck down’ due to Strictly Come Dancing injury-Aisha Nozari-Entertainment – Metro

Denise Van Outen has offered an insight into just how serious her 2012 accident could have been (Picture: Getty)

Denise Van Outen came close to paralysis while competing on Strictly Come Dancing.

The 48-year-old star had to undergo surgery after a disc ‘dislodged’ into her spinal cord and she was warned by doctors that she was just fractions away from her injury being catastrophically worse.

‘When I took part in 2012, a disc dislodged into my spinal cord and I needed an operation,’ the star shared.

‘I was told that if the disc had gone into my spinal cord slightly more, I would have been paralysed from the neck down,’ she added before noting that she also injured herself when taking part in Dancing On Ice almost a decade later.

According to the Daily Star, Denise said: ‘Then, during Dancing On Ice in 2021, I fractured my shoulder in three parts. I can’t blame anybody – I was in shows knowing there was a risk.’

Denise has openly spoken about the injury she sustained during Strictly in the past.

The 48-year-old star had to undergo surgery after a disc ‘dislodged’ into her spinal cord (Picture: Mike Marsland/WireImage)

Despite her injury, Denise performed in 2012’s Strictly Come Dancing final with her partner James Jordan (Picture: Beretta/Sims/REX/Shutterstock)

Last year, she said on Channel 4’s Steph’s Packed Lunch: ‘I’ve got a scar on my neck […] from an injury I had years ago just after Strictly Come Dancing.’

The Mirror reports that the presenter added at the time: ‘I fell on my head and slipped three discs into my spinal cord, so I had quite major surgery.

‘Now it’s all out in the open I don’t have to make excuses. It was such a personal thing for me at the time, quite a major surgery with quite a lot of rehabilitation, so I kept it private.’

Despite her injury, Denise performed in 2012’s Strictly Come Dancing final with her partner James Jordan and finished as a runner-up alongside Kimberley Walsh and Pasha Kovalev.

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Louis Smith and Flavia Cacace won that year’s show.

Metro.co.uk has reached out to Denise’s reps and the BBC for comment.

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