Strictly Come Dancing's Ola Jordan reveals painful health condition after 'punishing body'

Former Strictly Come Dancing professional Ola Jordan has opened up about the impact that her dancing career has had on her body and how she now suffers from a painful health condition

Ex-Strictly Come Dancing star Ola Jordan has opened up about a painful health condition she's been left with after years of "punishing" her body. The 42 year old ballroom dancer, who bid farewell to the BBC show in 2015, confessed to Women's Fitness magazine that while she doesn't miss the "intensity" of the training, she still enjoys tuning into the popular programme.

However, it seems her dancing career has taken its toll as Ola revealed she now suffers from a health issue that can leave her taking an "hour to straighten up".

She said: "I left Strictly in 2015 - almost a decade ago now! I don't miss the intensity of the training as I'm at the age where I'm settled and content. I still love watching the show but I've got a bad back now, thanks to a slipped disc.

"I think it happened due to years of punishing my body. I get up in the morning and it can take me about an hour to straighten up sometimes! I do stretches in the living room, which helps, and it's important for me to keep moving."

A slipped disc is a condition where the tissue between the bones in a person's spine bulges out, causing pain if it presses on their nerves, according to the NHS.

Symptoms can include lower back pain, tingling or numbness in other areas, neck pain, difficulty bending, muscle weakness and pain in the hips, legs or buttocks if it leads to sciatica (pressing on the sciatic nerve), reports the Express.

Ola Jordan, a former favourite on Strictly Come Dancing, who graced the dance floor on the show from 2006 until 2015 alongside her husband James Jordan, shed light on the behind-the-scenes grind of the show in 2019. She remarked: "I think people don't appreciate how much work goes into Strictly. When I say six months I mean it's 24/7 for six months. You don't have the weekends off."

She added: "You don't have days off. When professional dancers sign up for the show, from August 'til Christmas there is no day off."

After waving goodbye to Strictly, Ola took up judging duties on the Polish edition of the programme, which she found to be a rewarding experience, expressing at the time that it was "great" and "really good for me". In more personal news, July saw Ola open up about her daughter Ella's health struggles, confiding that she was dreading spending time alone with her while James was away due to Ella's ear problems that had kept her from swimming lessons and had seen her "really battled with her health" the previous winter.

Ola and James Jordan recently grabbed headlines after they dramatically transformed their post-Strictly bodies, shedding an impressive seven stone together, according to a Mirror report. The couple shared their joy in an Instagram video, where they said: "We felt amazing after losing weight."

Not without a touch of his usual humour, James chimed in with: "I felt like I had a new wife, it was brilliant - and I get in trouble for saying things like that!"