Strictly Come Dancing star rushed to hospital amid 'tropical disease' fears

Saffron Barker, who shot to fame on Strictly Come Dancing, has been suffering from a mystery illness and was taken to hospital where she was tested for a "tropical disease"

Strictly Come Dancing's Saffron Barker was taken to hospital amid concerns she had picked up a "tropical disease". The 24-year-old influencer, who made history as the first female social media personality to compete on the BBC One show in 2019, following Joe Suggs' participation in 2018, has gained fame through her YouTube channel with over two million subscribers.

Since being voted off Strictly five years ago, her followers have kept up with her life via Instagram and TikTok. Alarm bells rang for her fans when Saffron posted on Instagram about her frightening hospital visit.

Alongside a picture of herself in bed, she expressed gratitude for the support: "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."

She detailed her ordeal with symptoms that mirrored those of malaria, a severe mosquito-borne infection, including rashes, headaches, body pains, fever, and sore throat.

In a candid update on her Instagram Story, Saffron Barker revealed that despite initial concerns, she did not have malaria. "After getting my bloods taken turns out I didn't have that but my white blood cells were half the number they should be so very low and therefore my whole body was trying to fight the infection," she explained, reports the Mirror.

She also posted a video showing the rash that had spread across her arms, saying, "This is what the rashes looked like all over my body."

Her followers expressed relief when she later shared an image from her bath, indicating her recovery: "Today is the first day I have woken up and they are settling so feeling grateful," she wrote. This isn't Saffron's first health scare of the year; she previously sought medical attention after a skiing accident in January.

Additionally, in August, she addressed speculation surrounding her weight loss after returning from a six-week acting course in the US, facing unfounded rumours about her physique.

"I think it's quite obvious that I've lost a lot of weight recently - well I say recently, but it's been a gradual thing. My diet changed when I went to LA, for all the better. I don't eat anywhere near as much sugar as I used to eat and I never felt so much better for it in my life," she explained in her update. "I've actually worked really hard, frickin' hard. Apparently nowadays you can't lose weight without getting liposuction or being on Ozempic. It's so frustrating, this is the only time I'm going to address it."