Alexandra Burke got emotional as she admitted she’s ‘frightened to stop working’ due to grief over her mum’s death.
Speaking during an interview on Loose Women, the singer broke down in tears as she discussed how she’d been coping with her loss.
She told the panellists: “I’ve thrown myself into work since Strictly. Some may say it’s not healthy and I know that literally every day I have been doing something towards the album or in the studio. I’m frightened to stop. I’m not going to lie. I am.
“I just remember the day we did the [Strictly] red carpet reveal. That was the day mum passed. Early hours that morning. No one knew, I went on stage, smile on my face and I left everything for behind the scenes.
“That’s the way mum’s always taught me to be. Maybe that’s not the right way."
Burke also put to bed rumours of a feud between her and fellow Strictly star Gemma Atkinson, saying the stories were ‘made up’.
“It wasn’t easy [being branded a diva],” she said. “Reading all of that, in all my mentions, I had people trolling me on twitter, Instagram comments and all that, you can’t escape it.
“I had that for the 11 weeks and I didn’t say anything back, I didn’t want to fight fire with fire.
“[There was] no feud, as you know. I find it bizarre how stories can be made up with no truth and printed with no truth. It was nonsense."
Strictly Come Dancing 2017 - In pictures
Loose Women continues weekdays at 12.30pm on ITV while Strictly returns to BBC One later this year.
