Strictly star Montell Douglas' unseen health battle and split from boyfriend

Former Olympic sprinter and bobsledder, Montell Douglas, has been wowing audiences on this year's Strictly Come Dancing.

The 38-year-old athlete made history two years ago as the first British woman to compete in both the Summer and Winter Olympics. She competed in the 100m sprint and 4x100m relay in Beijing in 2008, setting a British record of 11.05 seconds in the former.

In 2016, she switched to bobsleigh and participated in the 2022 Winter Games, also held in Beijing.

Beyond her sporting career, Douglas is recognised for her role as Fire in the BBC's reboot of Gladiators. Now, she's ventured further into television as part of the latest series of Strictly.

Paired with professional dancer Johannes Radebe, she's been impressing viewers with her performances, proving she can excel at anything she tries.

Here are some lesser-known facts about the Strictly star.

Health struggles

The former Olympian has been open about her health struggles, revealing earlier this year that she suffers from severe period pains that have significantly affected her life.

Douglas shared that her condition had once landed her in hospital after she began "convulsing" in pain, describing the experience as a "wake-up call".

She explained how excruciating menstrual cramps could disrupt her daily activities. Despite being prescribed strong painkillers to be taken ahead of time, she found herself needing urgent medical care after failing to take the precautionary measure.

"That hospitalisation for me was a kind of wake-up call," she confessed on Good Morning Britain. "My body just started convulsing, and I was almost passing out because the pain was so intense.

"I was overheating because of the hormones - my body couldn't control its temperature, and that in turn made me dehydrated. The pain was in waves, coming in like contractions."

Following a contraceptive implant procedure to help manage her period pain, Douglas has now teamed up with Bupa to raise awareness about the condition.

"I'm going to be really honest about it as I think it's something we really need to talk about more the agonising pain," she expressed. "Not many people and not all women will experience the same thing.

"It can be really defeating, there have been times in my sporting career and also being doubled over with pain, lying doubled over in pain in bed, or if I've made it to the track to train I'm just lying on the floor. The waves are so intense, not only are you focusing on what you're trying to do, which is always high level, it's very distracting.

"Often, I can't actually do the task I'm meant to do so I can't do a duel, I can't run, the pain of doing my sport is bad enough without having to think about that and challenge that."

Split from partner

Little is known about Douglas' personal life, but ahead of her appearance on Strictly, she revealed that she had split from her boyfriend at the start of the year.

However, while she is now single, she played down talk of falling victim to the BBC show's infamous 'curse' which has seen a number of previous contestants fall for their professional dance partners.

"I am single and very much not mingling because I don't have the time," she said. "There are so many things to think about with dancing."

Douglas added that her dance partner Johannes is "the only man in my life," as she said: "He ticks every box that I could want anyway."

Douglas' dance partner Johannes recently offered a reassuring message to fans after they expressed concerns over his recent demeanour on the show. Despite the pair's success this series, some viewers noticed that the professional dancer appeared subdued on the show, with one fan expressing concern: "Hope you had fun Johannes!

"You haven't been your usual joyous gorgeous self lately. Many fans have been concerned about you lovely" However, Johannes reassured them, responding: "I'm okay darling.

"Montell has been good to me and we're enjoying the dancing. Hope you're good."