Strictly Come Dancing star rushed to hospital for surgery days after being robbed

   

Strictly Come Dancing star Saffron Barker has revealed details of a horrid week that’s seen her been robbed and rushed to hospital.

The 24-year-old influencer started her YouTube channel in 2015, where she continues to share content about lifestyle and beauty, fashion and fitness to her two million followers.

In 2019 she was also cast on Strictly, where she was paired with professional dancer AJ Pritchard. The pair eventually placed sixth, with that season won by Emmerdale’s Kelvin Fletcher and Oti Mabuse.

She’s also appeared on Celebrity Hunted and The Celebrity Circle

However, this week Saffron shared she’d faced a series of setbacks.

Posting a photo on Instagram of herself in hospital cuddling a teddy bear, she explained: ‘In the last week I’ve been in hospital, had emergency surgery, got my rental car completely smashed up and every single thing I own stolen including my passport so I can’t get home.’

She was robbed and rushed to hospital (Picture: Saffron Barker/ Instagram)
For use in UK, Ireland or Benelux countries only Undated BBC handout photo of Saffron Barker, one of the contestants in BBC1's Strictly Come Dancing. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Tuesday September 3, 2019. Photo credit should read: Ray Burmiston/BBC/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: Not for use more than 21 days after issue. You may use this picture without charge only for the purpose of publicising or reporting on current BBC programming, personnel or other BBC output or activity within 21 days of issue. Any use after that time MUST be cleared through BBC Picture Publicity. Please credit the image to the BBC and any named photographer or independent programme maker, as described in the caption.
The influencer appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2019 (Picture: PA)

Over the past week Saffron has been posting photos from California but hasn’t shared any further update on the issues she’s facing.

It’s the latest setback she’s faced recently, with the influencer being rushed to hospital with a suspected ‘tropical disease’ last year.

In October she posted a series of updates showing her skin covered in a red rash, an IV drip coming from her arm and bloody bruises where blood had been drawn by medics.

She said in a caption alongside an image of her lying in bed in pyjamas: ‘Thank you so much for all your well wishes, after a week I finally feel somewhat normal again.

‘The doctors thought I’d caught a tropical disease from a mosquito when I was away.

‘I had all the symptoms being, rashes all over my body, headache, body aches, shooting pains in my body, temperature, sore throat and ears etc.’

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 21: Saffron Barker attends The Pride of Britain Awards 2024 at The Grosvenor House Hotel on October 21, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
Saffron has faced several health scares over the past year (Picture: Gareth Cattermole/ Getty Images)

However, she went on to share she hadn’t contracted malaria but was still battling the rash.

Earlier in the year she also sought medical help during a skiing holiday following a painful fall.

In 2023 her brother Casey also suffered a ‘major heart attack’ aged 27 and was admitted to hospital.

She later detailed he made it to the hospital ‘just in time’ to save him and they were ‘lucky he [is] still here’.