A Strictly Come Dancing choreographer who coached celebrities on the show is suing a West End theatre company after suffering a severe injury falling off stage.
Kylie Hayes, 41, helped choreograph routines on the BBC hit for 12 seasons but says she had to give up dancing after being hurt during rehearsals for a UK production of classic Broadway musical 42nd Street.
The dancer and teacher said she was leaving a stage in the ‘pitch black’ when she took a tumble after temporary steps were moved and tore a muscle in her left leg.
Mrs Hayes says her injuries ended her career as a West End and Strictly assistant choreographer – having worked on the BBC primetime show for more than a decade.
During her time on the show, she helped coach contestants including Alan Titchmarsh, Jeremy Vine, Kimberley Walsh, Stacey Dooley, Pixie Lott, Emma Barton and the late glitterball winner Caroline Flack on how to do the Charleston.
She continued to watch that night’s performance from the sidelines despite her injuries.
But she later discovered she had badly ‘torn’ her musculotendinous junction – the joint between her Achilles tendon and calf muscle – and had to be signed off work for up to a year.
And after a 20-year career she soon realised she was unlikely to dance competitively again due to extreme fatigue so has launched legal action against theatre bosses.
Kylie Hayes, 41, had helped to choreograph routines on Strictly for 12 seasons but says she had to give up dancing after she was hurt during rehearsals for West End show 42nd Street
Among the Strictly contestants with whom she worked was the late Caroline Flack
Mrs Hayes, who has worked on hit West End shows Evita, Follies, Cats, Oklahoma, Saturday Night Fever, Sound of Music and Top Hat, said: ‘It was absolutely devastating. Everything I had ever known had been ripped away from me in seconds.
‘People say break a leg on stage but I never dreamed I would be the one to fall and it cost me my career.
‘Dance isn’t just a career it’s my essence it’s who I am and my whole identity and all I have ever known since I was two.
‘To me not dancing is like having an amputation and losing a limb as I can’t use my feet anymore for what I was born to do.
‘I am now grieving a career I once had. I lived for the stage, the buzz, the excitement the audience and all that was taken from me in that instant when I fell off that stage.’
Mrs Hayes, from South Molton in Devon, had also previously taught Strictly judge Anton Du Beke how to tap dance.
She had also helped teach group professional dance numbers for Strictly’s musicals week for 12 seasons alongside choreographer business partner Bill Deamer.
She was on tour with the cast of 42nd Street in May 2023 helping to choreograph routines for preview nights at the Curve Theatre in Leicester, as they prepared the show for its full launch in the West End before her career came crashing down.
Kylie Hayes has also worked on hit West End productions such as Evita, Follies, Cats, Oklahoma, Saturday Night Fever, Sound of Music and Top Hat
But after opening night, she said that clearly marked and illuminated steps to get dancers on and off the stage were moved.
Mrs Hayes, who has been dancing since she was aged two, added: ‘To this day I don’t know why this was done. But it cost me everything.
‘It was supposed to be a standard rehearsal run, we were testing out the lighting, stage exits, routines, places, costume changes and sets.’
After running through a dance routine in an afternoon rehearsal she went to leave the stage in darkness and fell into ‘space’ and claimed the stage platform exit had been left with no lights or markings.
Mrs Hayes, who also helped choreograph Olivier-winning West End tap dance show Top Hat, landed awkwardly with a ‘massive thud’ so loud it stopped rehearsals.
She added: ‘All the dancers stopped dead. I landed flat on my face with my leg outstretched. I was so embarrassed and did the British thing and said I was fine and tried to walk it off.’
But when she stood up her left leg collapsed underneath her.
Mrs Hayes, had spent four years as a West End dancer before becoming a choreographer, added: ‘It was like my whole leg was numb like jelly, it felt like a dead weight or a heavy bag of marbles.
Kylie Hayes says her injuries ended her glittering career as a West End and also Strictly assistant choreographer – having worked on the BBC primetime show for more than a decade
The super-fit dancer teacher said she was leaving the stage in the ‘pitch black’ while working on 42nd Street when she tumbled and tore a muscle in her left leg.
Her legal claim states that temporary steps beside the stage had been moved
‘I thought I would be okay in five minutes, not knowing my life had just changed forever.’
She managed to watch the show later that night with help from some strong painkillers but after her leg swelled up she saw a private physio who immediately told her: ‘You’ve lost your Achilles.’
She added: ‘I knew then I was in serious trouble and was out for at least a year – but I didn’t dream my career was over.’
Doctors at the nearby Leicester Royal Infirmary later diagnosed a tear just above her Achilles and fitted her with a boot she had to wear ’24-7 even in bed and the shower’ for three months.
She added: ‘I had just moved to Devon from south west London with my husband Simon and he had to hold me up emotionally, physically and financially.
‘I didn’t know anyone and suddenly I had gone from 100 miles an hour to standstill and was on my own for the first time.
‘I couldn’t walk, shop, drive or even walk my dog Nellie. I am a really positive person but I admit I had some real dark days. I struggled to get up the stairs. It was heartbreaking. All I have ever known was dance and the buzz and it was all gone.’
She also had to inject herself in her stomach daily with anti DVT blood clot medicines for weeks.
She later discovered she had badly ‘torn’ her musculotendinous junction – the joint between her Achilles tendon and calf muscle – and had to be signed off work for up to a year
Mrs Hayes had also been in a near two-decade dance partnership with choreographer Bill Deamer as his assistant choreographer after joining him direct from the prestigious Arts Ed Performing arts drama School in London and had travelled across the world producing dance routines for TV and West End shows.
She added: ‘We were just like a married couple. We met while I was at music college as he would come along and do some routines and saw I was exceptional at tap and choreography.
‘So I ended up leaving college a term early to start my career with him. I was musical theatre trained and very creative so I would bring his dance routines to life on the stage or screen. He would think it and I would make it happen.
‘We were magic together and a great team.’
But as the months dragged on with her recovery she learned that he had replaced her for upcoming shows like Hello Dolly, Evita, a Cunard Cruise and their annual BBC1 Strictly stint choreographing musicals week with the show’s professional dancers.
After her boot was removed, she had to have a special lift heel inserted into her shoes and was able to take up 5km runs.
But when she tried to dance at the same level as before the accident, she found she could only manage 30 minutes at a time before getting tired.
She added: ‘The feeling was indescribable. I started crying and shaking. I had lost all confidence in my body.
Kylie Hayes, from South Molton in Devon, taught Strictly judge Anton Du Beke how to tap dance
‘It was a massive realisation that I would not be able to dance at a high level in the West End again and would now need a new career outside dance. I had to put my tap shoes in the loft.’
She then decided to sue the theatre company putting on the production, 42nd Street 2023 Ltd, which has now admitted liability for her accident although no potential damages figure has yet been set.
Emma Mazurkiewicz, an accident specialist at Express Solicitors who is handling her claim, said: ‘Kylie was one of the fittest dancers in the West End.
‘She has worked on the biggest shows and was a Strictly veteran. But her whole career came crashing down when she fell off stage.
‘Now she has been forced to give up the glitter ball and her passion for dance and change careers. Theatres and production companies need to do more to make sure that everyone on their premises are kept safe.’
Mrs Hayes is now working as receptionist and massage therapist at the Mole spa resort near her home in Devon.
She added: ‘Doing massages was something I really enjoyed so it clicked. I love it here.
‘It doesn’t have the glitz and glamour of Strictly or the West End buzz, I still miss that.
Kylie Hayes (pictured) is now working as receptionist and massage therapist at the Mole spa resort near her home in Devon
‘But I have a totally different life now and I have come to terms with that. As they say, the show must go on.
‘What I do now is the complete opposite to Strictly – there’s no glitter, sequins or band. But there is something more precious – authentic friends, walks on the beach with my dog Nellie and hubby and no stress.
‘Something I didn’t realise I could ever have.’
Mrs Hayes, who grew up in Portsmouth, still watches Strictly as an avid viewer.
She added: ‘I can pick out any routine my old partner has worked on. But I have made peace with that part of my life. My next chapter is calmer and more relaxed and I wouldn’t have it any other way.’
The theatre company has not responded to requests for comment.
