Chizzy Akudolu has opened up about her struggle with depression after being the first celebrity to be voted off Strictly Come Dancing in 2017, admitting that she hit a "massive low" after leaving the show. Chatting on Loose Women, the Holby City star said: "I do suffer from depression. I'm not ashamed to say that at all. It's not something I asked for. It's something I'm dealing with, I'm still on anti-depressants. I have therapy. I had quite a bit of therapy after Strictly. I just want to say that the show did offer me a therapist, I said, 'No I'll be fine, it's just a show, just a show'. I did hit a massive low with my depression after Strictly."
© Photo: ITVChizzy opened up about her depression
Chizzy, 44, revealed that she was initially diagnosed while working on Holby City, explaining: "I was diagnosed about three and a half years ago. I think there's been something there, but I've just always gone, everything's fine!" She added: "I'd just be sitting in the makeup chair and start crying. People would say, 'What's wrong?' and I'd say, 'I have no idea.' I'd start to get a bit angry, when I felt the crying coming, I'd get angry as I didn't want people to see."
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The celeb, who danced with Pasha Kovalev on the show, admitted that being the first to leave Strictly was "crushing". "There was a bit of embarrassment and there's all these plans you have in your head of future dances," she said. "And I've wanted to do the show for so long, and to get to do it, and I was getting fitter, and then for it suddenly just to be taken away, it was crushing. It was my birthday the following Saturday. Who gets to dance on Strictly on their birthday? Well, not me!"
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