Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood has revealed he ended up in hospital after an allergic reaction to hair dye, saying he "could have died".
The 61-year-old, who has been on the BBC show's judging panel since 2004, shared the story on the Judgemental podcast he hosts with fellow judge Anton du Beke.
Anaphylactic shock from beard dye
Craig said he tried to dye his beard and suffered a severe reaction. He explained: "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."
He added that he only left the product on his beard for three minutes before having a "big reaction". The area 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.
PPD allergy confirmed
A subsequent test revealed Craig is 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 can be a potent contact allergen for those allergic to it.
Craig said: "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 conceded that his Strictly colleague has held the colour in his hair well. Craig finished the segment by saying he would have liked to dye his hair a "sandy blonde" colour.
Previous stabbing ordeal
The revelation comes after Craig recently told a story about how he was stabbed and strip-searched during a holiday to Spain. He said he was in 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.
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 that's 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 hadn't shaved, so I did look a bit of a wreck. I'd 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.
