Strictly Come Dancing star Michelle Tsiakkas left ‘traumatised’ after phone was snatched in broad daylight
Strictly Come Dancing star Michelle Tsiakkas has said she was left “traumatised” after her phone was stolen in central London by a thief on an e-bike in broad daylight.
The 29-year-old dancer, who was partnered with Jamie Borthwick on the most recent series of the BBC competition, was on her way to the dentist when her mobile was snatched out of her hand.
Speaking to Ed Balls and Kate Garraway on Good Morning Britain, Tsiakkas said: “It was a new dentist, I hadn’t been there before, it was early morning, around 9am.”
The Strictly star said she had only taken her phone out for “five to 10 seconds” before it was grabbed.
Tsiakkas continued: “I’m generally quite an aware person, I look around me. But you just can’t predict these things and this is why I would advise everyone to be super careful.
“Even when you think you’re aware of your surroundings, these criminals are professionals, they come out of nowhere and your phone is gone.” The dancer added she was “quite traumatised” by the incident as it had been such a “shock” to her.
“You don’t expect it, it’s an invasion of your personal space,” Tsiakkas said.
“When it happened, I felt like I’d lost the strength in my legs. I think I screamed at him as well. It was early morning, so these lovely two ladies came to help me out and gave me their phones.”
Exclusive data obtained by The Independent found that mobile phone thefts almost doubled to 83,900 across the UK over a five-year period. London is at the epicentre of the crime wave, where thefts more than doubled over the five-year period.
Tsiakkas was eliminated in week 10 of the 2024 series of Strictly Come Dancing after she and Borthwick were beaten in the dance off by Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe. Borthwick was later suspended by the BBC for making a disabled slur.
This autumn, Tsiakkas will return to the Strictly Come Dancing ballroom alongside her fellow professional dancers and a new batch of A-list stars.
The celebrity contestants for the 2025 series are yet to be revealed, but rumoured names include Sort Your Life Out presenter Stacey Solomon, Neighbours star Stefan Dennis, EastEnders actor Bovinder Sopal, Geordie Shore’s Vicky Pattison, Olympic athlete Mo Farah and Love Island star Dani Dyer, the daughter of actor Danny Dyer.
