Strictly Come Dancing star Alex Kingston has revealed that she feared she would never work again after withdrawing from a television project due to her uterine cancer diagnosis. The 63-year-old actress, known for her role in Doctor Who, disclosed her condition to The Independent last October, sharing that she had undergone a hysterectomy and radiation therapy the previous year.
Recovery and New Opportunities
In a recent interview with The Telegraph, Kingston explained that while her cancer has been successfully treated, she was compelled to step away from a TV commitment. “I felt very bad, as if I’d let the production down,” she said. “I’d never done anything like that before. I just thought, ‘Well, that’s it. I’m not going to get another job ever again,’ so it was lovely to be offered Secret Service. It proved the perfect role because it wasn’t too demanding and allowed me to ease back in.”
Kingston takes on the role of an MI6 intelligence security chief in the upcoming ITV spy thriller, starring alongside Gemma Arterton. She also noted that she eagerly accepted the opportunity to participate in Strictly Come Dancing last year following her treatment. She competed with professional dancer Johannes Radebe, advancing to week 10 of the series.
Strictly Challenges
“Now I literally felt like the person I used to be, so full of energy,” Kingston said, though she recalled a performance during which her rib “popped out.” She told The Independent at the time that it “didn’t go back in,” forcing last-minute choreography changes. She added to The Telegraph: “Then I got a stomach bug and vomited it back into place!”
Diagnosis and Advocacy
Last October, Kingston revealed that she sought medical help for bloating and achiness after noticing blood in her urine. “Even though my body was telling me there was something very seriously wrong, I kept thinking, ‘Oh, I’ve got a bad UTI or fibroids,’” she said. She later haemorrhaged while performing in a play at Chichester Festival in summer 2024 but continued the show. “I ran off stage and said, ‘Grab me some pads!’ We shoved some pads in my pants and I went back on stage and carried on. That was how we finished the show.”
In March, Kingston criticised Craig Revel Horwood’s comments about her Salsa performance on Strictly, where he said she looked like “a woman who is having a midlife crisis.” She told Prima: “It was a little mean-spirited for Craig to say that, and also I just felt like it’s exactly the opposite of what I’m trying to advocate. It’s like, no, if you want to dance and swing a devil’s tail around and you’re in your 90s, do it. I mean, this is your life. So live it!”
