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Strictly's Craig Revel Horwood 'ended up in hospital and could have died' in health ordeal

Strictly judge Craig Revel Horwood opened up about a scary incident where an allergic reaction to a product saw him "end up in hospital" as he suffered an anaphylactic shock

[Craig Revel Horwood ]

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Craig Revel Horwood opened up about his health emergency (Image: BBC)

TV star Craig Revel Horwood revealed an allergic reaction to a beauty product sparked a trip to hospital - and he claimed he "could have died".

The Strictly Come Dancing judge, 61, has been on the BBC show's judging panel since its inception in 2004.

The sharp-tongued dancer is always good for an anecdote, and recently shared a dramatic story where using an innocent product resulted in a rush to hospital with anaphylactic shock.

Speaking on the Judgemental podcast he hosts with fellow Strictly judge Anton du Beke, Craig told how he learned he was allergic to hair dye the hard way. He tried to dye his beard - and it went horribly wrong.

He said: "I had a terrible, allergic reaction to hair dye. It was bad. I ended up in hospital. Anaphylactic shock. I could have died. It's true."

Craig added that he only left the product on his beard for three minutes before having a "big reaction".

[Anton du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood ]

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Craig told the anecdote on his podcast with Anton du Beke (Image: all rights M Vittur)

It started releasing pus and the TV star said it was weeping for three weeks "all the way down my chest", forcing him to sit up in bed and wear a bib.

He continued: "It was awful, it was horrible. So I can't dye my hair."

A subsequent test revealed that Craig was allergic to a chemical compound in hair dye called PPD (p-phenylenediamine).

It is widely used in permanent and semi-permanent hair dyes to provide long-lasting, natural-looking colour, especially in dark shades.

But it can also be a potent contact allergen is someone is allergic to it.

[Craig Revel Horwood ]

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Craig says he can't dye his hair (Image: Getty Images)

Craig explained: "There's a lot of people that are actually allergic to it. You have to do a test before you put it on just to see if you have a reaction to it, but I had a really bad reaction.

"So dye, I'm afraid, is out for me. And even semi-permanent, they have some of that PPD in it."

Anton, 60, sniggered through the initial part of Craig's story but did concede that his Strictly colleague has held the colour in his hair well.

Craig finished the segment by saying he would have like to dye his hair a "sandy blonde" colour.

It comes after Craig recently told a story about how he was stabbed and strip-searched during a holiday to Spain.

The Strictly star said he was travelling in the country's capital, Madrid, when his jewellery was stolen and he was slashed with a blade across his stomach. He was also searched for drugs on the way out of the country.

[Craig Revel Horwood ]

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Craig Revel Horwood (Image: BBC/Guy Levy)

He told a previous episode of the podcast: "I went on holiday in Madrid and got stabbed, that was nice, and it was stinking hot.

"My jewellery was stolen as well; they ripped my necklace off my neck and gave me a big burn mark.

"I know, coming home from a club. It was 2:00 in the morning, but thats sort of normal. You go out for dinner at 10:00 or 11:00. But I remember I was dancing at Lido in Paris, and we went to, um, Madrid for a holiday, so that ended up pretty bad. And then when I got back, I got strip-searched.

"I hadnt shaved, so I did look a bit of a wreck. Id been stabbed, uh, I had burn marks all around my neck from where I was, like, attacked, and then the French strip-searched me down to literally nothing."

The incident is believed to have happened in 1988 when Craig was just 23.

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