BBC Strictly Come Dancing star reveals 'hard' health issue he faced on show
Ore Oduba won the famous Glitterball Trophy in 2016 when he partnered with Joanna Clifton, but he was reportedly battling a health issue while starring on Strictly Come Dancing
Ore Oduba revealed he was battling a health problem while on Strictly Come Dancing
(Image: ITV)
BBC star Ore Oduba has revealed he was battling a 'hard' health problem while on Strictly Come Dancing. The former Newsround star took part on the show alongside professional dancer Joanne Clifton.
Ore and Joanne went on to lift the famous Glitterball Trophy, finishing ahead of pop star Louise Redknapp and partner Kevin Clifton and Hollyoaks actor Danny Mac and professional Oti Mabuse. But Ore says he made desperate attempts to conceal a health issue while on the show, reports the Daily Mail.
The star reportedly masked the fact that he was balding. Male-pattern baldness is said to affect around 6.5 million men living in the United Kingdom.
For some men, the process can begin while they are in their teens, with others not experiencing hair loss until later in life. Ore, 39, is said to have treated himself with tablets and hair loss spray at the time.
According to the Mail, he said: 'Hiding my hair loss during Strictly was hard but absolutely necessary. I'd visit my trusted barber every Friday so my hairline was tight and tidy.'
Ore Oduba lifted the Strictly trophy in 2016
(Image: BBC/Guy Levy)
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The NHS says that while many people do use hair-loss tablets such as finasteride they can have side-effects. It says some men who take them could struggle with ejaculation or suffer impotence from taking the tablets.
There can however be more serious side effects, however the NHS says only one in 1,000 people experience the more severe reactions. These include low mood and lumps in the chest area, which could be a sign of cancer.
Those who do experience the side effects are told to contact their GP or ring 111 immediately. Ore and Joanne were crowned winners in a shock result in 2016 after scoring two perfect dances in the Strictly final.
After lifting the trophy, he paid tribute to his professional partner. Ore said: 'I am so speechless. I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for everything you've given me.
'You are the most incredible person. This has been the most incredible experience of my life.
'I've learnt to dance. I've made a best friend. I've been on the show that I've loved for the past 12 years.'
Ore Oduba rose to fame as a BBC presenter
(Image: BBC)
Joanne, who finished ahead of her brother Kevin, added: 'Thank you. I can't believe it. Thank you for working so hard. You've become a dancer.'
After being crowned Strictly champion, Joanne left the show, returning as an expert presenter on Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two in 2019. She has since appeared in stage shows including Shrek the Musical and The Addams Family.
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Ore started his career on Sportsround before moving onto Newsroom. He has subsequently appeared on the likes of This Morning and BBC Breakfast.
Away from screens Ore has appeared in musicals such as Grease, Curtains the Musical, and the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Meanwhile Strictly will return next month with stars such as former Love Islander Dani Dyer, ex-Premier League star Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, and Gladiator Nitro set to take part.
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Daily Mail
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Skinner who now lives in Brentwood with wife Sinéad (pictured) and their three children described in his book how his father 'worked the markets and always had a business opportunity on the go' In a reference to his love of spending money as well as well as making it, he added that he 'had been up and down so many times that I've lost count'. The book also told how his wheeler-dealing had spilled over into criminality which culminated in him being given a two year suspended prison sentence, a fine and 300 hours community service in 2012 for handling 4,992 stolen tubes of Body Shop cleansing gels worth nearly £40,000 and 2,000 Valium tablets. Skinner was only revealed to be an old boy of prestigious Brentwood School in a local Essex newspaper report in 2019 which told how he had been chosen to appear on The Apprentice. He was forced to defend his working class credentials after a commentator called him out about his time at the expensive private school in a post on X in July last year. The post said: 'This guy went to a school that costs £23,000 a year to attend as a day student and £46,000 a year to attend as a boarder. Yet, he's got every Deano in the land eating out of his hand as some fake working-class hero. Embarrassing.' Skinner who has admitted being dyslexic replied in a lengthy post which did not name Brentwood School, but stated: 'I got a sports scholarship to a fantastic sports academy school, that I later got expelled (for selling porno DVDs my dad got from me off his mate in the pub so I could have a few more quid in my pocket) and I was an idiot when I was younger.' He added: 'I'm dyslexic and struggled with school, I was an extremely lucky child who got given the opportunity to go there, what's wrong with that? But I worked extremely hard to get myself there and I proud of that. 'I've been working on markets since the age of 12. I work every day and Employ 18 people. I have previous criminal records because I had to do things when I was younger that I'm not proud of and I was naive. Pictured: Jack Skinner and his father at 80s pop star Paul Young's wedding to wife Lorna at the Old Marylebone Town Hall Skinner's parents are thought to have split up around 2012 when his father disappeared off the electoral register records for the house (Pictured) He later spent time living separately with his mother and father at their respective home (Pictured his childhood home, which has an immaculate and spacious lawned rear garden) 'But learnt from it and made me the man I am today. I'm proud of where I've come from and what I've achieved in life. All I try to do is spread positivity and let the world know anything in life is achievable with hard work.' Skinner was ejected from The Apprentice by Lord Sugar in Week Nine of the show in 2019, and went on to capitalise on his TV work with appearance on 8 Out of Ten Cats and Celebrity Masterchef. 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As a result of the case, he had a bankruptcy petition filed against him by the FCA in May 2020 and was banned from being a company director for ten years, according to financial records. wife Sinéad Meanwhile further details of Thomas Skinner's now spent conviction for handling stolen goods have now emerged. He was aged just 20 in 2012 when he was charged with a much older co-defendant Albert Jackson, then 61, Jackson from Aveley, Essex, who died in 2015 was accused of handling 9,552 tubes of the same gel to the value of £76,000 as well as 171 pairs of Sketches footwear worth £8,000. A woman who was once in a relationship with him said: 'I don't know what Albert's connection to Tom Skinner was beyond them being on the same charge in court - but I can tell you Albert was a wrong un. 'He was a proper thief, very into drugs and violent - he once attacked a fella n a pub with a crowbar. A nasty piece of work.' 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