Alexandra Burke has revealed she got “really, really sick” towards the end of Strictly Come Dancing, but decided not to make it public.
The former X Factor winner told HuffPost she was so unwell in the final weeks of the BBC One dancing competition that she had to stop visiting the recording studio every day.
Alexandra, 29, said it had been “difficult” juggling her Strictly commitments with working on new music.
And even more difficult when she fell ill.
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“I’m not going to lie to you, it was difficult,” she said.
“I was in the studio every single day while doing Strictly, and I had to stop towards the end because I got really, really sick during the last three weeks of Strictly, which I didn’t tell anyone about,” she said.
“So I stopped recording because it had really affected my voice, being so ill.”
Alex didn’t reveal the nature of her illness.
The Silence singer made it to the finals with pro partner Gorka Marquez, but lost out on the Glitterball Trophy to Holby City’s Joe McFadden and Katya Jones.
She didn’t have an easy time on the show, however, after being plagued by false negative stories accusing her of diva antics backstage.
Alex previously told Press Association that some of the comments she’d received from trolls had left her “mentally scarred”.
“I had a really rough ride. I think it got to maybe week 11 and I spoke out and that is when it kind of stopped.
“Not stopped totally, but a lot of people stuck up for me.
“A lot of love was there before, but it just came through so much after I finally said it was damaging, and I’m not going to lie, I don’t miss that part of it at all.
“That part of it mentally scarred me and still has and it’s done that to my family as well, but I think we are strong, we will bounce back already.”
The star tragically lost her mother, Soul II Soul singer Melissa Bell, shortly before the show began and said the family was trying to heal.
“It’s about moving forward and not allowing the negative to get in the way, because Strictly is such a joyous show, with so much love and it taught me so much,” she said.
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“To be able to dance with Gorka, that I could only dream of, that part of it totally outweighs the negative.”
Alexandra, who recently became engaged to boyfriend Josh Ginnelly, will release her new album, The Truth Is, on March 16.
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