Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Alexandra Burke says she is ‘mentally scarred’ by trolling during Strictly Come Dancing

Alexandra Burke (Matt Crossick/PA)
Alexandra Burke (Matt Crossick/PA)

THE abuse and criticism she received from trolls during her time on Strictly Come Dancing has “mentally scarred” her and her family, Alexandra Burke has said.

The former X Factor champion was accused of being “fake” when she cried on the dancing show and branded a diva in reports.

However, the singer said her positive experiences far outweighed the negative and she was excited to reunite with her partner Gorka Marquez for the Strictly live tour.

Burke and Marquez at rehearsals for the tour (Ellis O’Brien)
She told the Press Association: “I had a really rough ride. I think it got to maybe week 11 and I spoke out and that is when it kind of stopped. 

“Not stopped totally, but a lot of people stuck up for me.

“A lot of love was there before, but it just came through so much after I finally said it was damaging, and I’m not going to lie, I don’t miss that part of it at all.

“That part of it mentally scarred me and still has and it’s done that to my family as well, but I think we are strong, we will bounce back already.”

Burke lost her mother, Soul II Soul singer Melissa Bell, shortly before the show began and said the family was trying to heal.

She said: “We had an OK Christmas, an OK New Year and it’s about moving forward and not allowing the negative to get in the way, because Strictly is such a joyous show, with so much love and it taught me so much.

“To be able to dance with Gorka, that I could only dream of, that part of it totally outweighs the negative.”

At tour rehearsals (Ellis O’Brien)

She recently announced her engagement to partner Joshua Ginnelly but said: “It’s bittersweet for me, I’ve always expressed that, but I’m trying to look at the positives that life has thrown at me since going through a tough time.

“God is always good, God has been good to me and I’m very spiritual and I’ve got a lot of faith and I’m just trying to take it each day as it comes.”

Burke said Ginnelly would be accompanying her on the road when the tour kicks off in Birmingham on January 19.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdsrB1qjOC_/?taken-by=alexandramusic

She said: “He’s going to come on tour, he will be there as much as he possibly can but it’s only three weeks of my life and that is what I said to him the other day as I was walking out the house.

“It will go quick, I’m so used to touring for a year and a half, The Bodyguard was two years and that is just difficult, but three weeks will be fine.”

She will be joined on tour by fellow contestants Gemma Atkinson, Susan Calman, Davood Ghadami, Debbie McGee and Jonnie Peacock, as well as champion Joe McFadden and judges Craig Revel Horwood, Bruno Tonioli and Darcey Bussell.

McFadden and partner Katya Jones (Ellis O’Brien)
However she expressed her disappointment that Shirley Ballas, who replaced Len Goodman as head judge in 2017, will not be there.

“I’m quite gutted about that, I wanted all of them,” she said. “Then I found out it’s only three, that’s what they do.”

Asked if she hoped Ballas would return to the show for the next series, Burke said: “She had better be back, she’s a dream. I love her, I’m a massive fan of her. I Googled that woman so much and studied her on YouTube just to see what she was like in competitions when she was younger, she was insane and still is.

“I pray that she comes back, I think she enjoyed the experience and she got a good reaction from the public. Get her back!”

Information on the tour is available at strictlycomedancinglive.com.