Strictly Come Dancing choreographer Kylie Hayes, 41, has been forced to give up dancing after suffering life-changing injuries in a fall off-stage at the Curve Theatre in Leicester. Hayes worked on the BBC dance competition for 12 series, but her career ended during rehearsals for a West End run of 42nd Street.
The accident occurred when the “clearly marked and lit” steps for dancers to move on and off stage were allegedly moved unexpectedly. Hayes had to leave the stage in darkness, but the usual platform had been moved and was not lit as usual. She tore the hermusculotendinous junction between her Achilles tendon and calf muscle, requiring a year off work.
Hayes, who taught Anton Du Beke to tap dance and worked with stars like Stacey Dooley and Caroline Flack, now wears a 24/7 boot and injects herself with anti-DVT medication. She is suing the theatre company, 42nd Street 2023 Ltd., which has admitted liability. Hayes said: “It was absolutely devastating. Everything I had ever known had been ripped away from me in seconds.”
Now working as a receptionist and massage therapist near her Devon home, Hayes added: “To me not dancing is like having an amputation… I am now grieving a career I once had.”
