Strictly star ‘traumatised' after being mugged in central London, saying ‘I felt scared and helpless'
STRICTLY Come Dancing star Michelle Tsiakkas has been left "traumatised" after being mugged in central London.
Pro dancer Michelle, 29, told her followers that the ordeal left her feeling "scared and helpless".
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The Strictly star - who joined the show three years ago - took to Instagram to share the terrifying incident.
Addressing her fans in a video, she said: "Hi guys, so I wanted to just make this video to let you know something that happened to me the other day in London.
"Now this was a couple of days ago and I've just about mentally recovered from that. It was quite traumatising on the day.
"It wasted my whole day and made me feel awful, scared, helpless and I don't want the same to happen to you.
"My phone got stolen. My phone got stolen. I mean I see it happening all the time but it's just one of those things that you just never think it's gonna happen to you. and then it does."
Recounting the story, Michelle said: "So it was early morning. I was on my way to the dentist in London.
"It was around Covent Garden so the streets were really quiet. I think I was just the only person around so maybe I was an easy target and I whipped out my phone to have a look at the directions to see where my dentist was.
"I was on the actual street of the dentist and what happens?
A man comes on a bike behind me, sweeps past me and grabs my phone.
"So he's grabbed my phone. He's on an electric bike and my heart just sank. I tried to I think like reach for it and that made me fall on my knees on the floor and graze my knee.
"I think my reflex was just to swear and then scream give me back my phone and clearly you know that didn't work.
Strictly pro breaks silence on new duty of care police as scandal-hit BBC show gears up for new series
"He just left. He was wearing a mask so there was no way that I could have seen what he looked like and he was going really fast on that electric bike so there was no way on earth I could have caught up with him.
"Thankfully there were two really lovely and helpful women there and they'd seen that I was a bit distressed."
Michelle captioned the video with: "Warning ⚠️ This can happen to you in Central London.
"Be aware and be very careful. Phone theft is happening more and more and it seems like crime in the city is getting worse …
"Has something like this ever happened to you?"
BECOMING A STRICTLY STAR
Michelle joined the cast of Strictly in 2022, and received her first celebrity partner last year with EastEnders actor Jamie Borthwick, 30.
The pro dancer specialises in Latin dance.
Michelle was the undefeated Cyprus dance champion from 2001-2011, before moving to London to study.
After moving to the UK, Michelle represented England at international championships and then joined the world touring dance show Burn The Floor.
The Sun exclusively revealed in April how Michelle's hunky boyfriend Simone Arena will be joining her on Strictly.
The show has signed up the Italian dancer to replace Giovanni Pernice on the BBC1 series.
Simone, 33, is set to be a new dancer after BBC producers revealed that two new pros would join the line-up this autumn.
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It comes after Giovanni, 34, quit the scandal-hit show last summer after nine years.
A source said: 'Simone blew the Strictly bosses away when he auditioned as a new professional on the show.
'He is no stranger to the Strictly format after previously starring as a pro on the Belgian, Italian and Irish versions of the series.
'Simone is well known among the pros and his girlfriend Michelle loved her time on the series last year.
'Fans will be delighted with Simone because he is very easy on the eye and certainly charming.'
In 2020, Simone joined the cast of Giovanni's This Is Me Tour - but it was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
He also won the Belgian Dancing With The Stars with Olympic gymnast Nina Derwael, 25, in 2022.
Simone and Michelle met on the live dance tour - Burn The Floor - which has toured across the world - including Broadway in New York City and London's West End.
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