2 weeks Ago By [email protected] (Steven Murphy)
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info Strictly Come Dancing fans are often moved to tears when their favourite couple’s dance.
However, one Strictly professional Nikita Kuzmin ’s performances have made some viewers emotional for another reason altogether. In Nikita’s first year on the show back in 2021, he was partnered with Tilly Ramsay , daughter of chef Gordon. The couple found themselves in the dance-off performance, where Nikita ended up dancing topless, having to take his shirt off when it got stuck on his microphone pack.
It was during that routine – which did end in the couple being voted off the show after ten weeks – that some fans noted that was wearing a blood glucose monitor on the back of his arm, a device used by diabetics to keep track of their blood sugar levels. Diabetic viewers were heartened to see Nikita – who suffers from Type 1 diabetes – out and proud about his condition and his use of the price of life-changing technology, with some emotional responses from viewers. One fan responding on Twitter said: “Thank you, Nikita, for displaying your Libre sensor! As a fellow T1 diabetic, these devices are game changers and to see a celeb wearing one is normalising their use.
” Another added: “I’m catching up on tonight’s #strictly and I’m almost in tears seeing one of the pro dancers visibly wearing a Libre monitor - such a small thing but it’s so amazing to see.” The continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) sensor helps Diabetics check their blood sugar levels throughout the day and is currently used by almost half a million people with the condition. Nikita hasn’t shied away from using his platform to raise awareness about his condition since he joined Strictly in 2021.
He shared that he faces daily challenges due to diabetes and once revealed that he was first diagnosed when rushed to hospital as a teenager by his parents after he fell seriously ill one night. He told the Sun that it happened at around 2am and he had "extremely" high blood sugar levels. He said: "It was quite traumatic because I was diagnosed in the middle of the night.
They [blood sugar levels] were spiking, and I had been feeling very ill for about a week." Luckily, his parents realised that it could be diabetes and took him to hospital. Type 1 diabetes causes blood sugar levels to get too high because the body does not make enough insulin to control the amount of glucose in the blood.
The illness can be inherited, while some viruses contribute to the onset of type 1 diabetes, which can appear suddenly in adults, as well as in children. This type of technology is also known as flash monitoring and helps the approximately 400,000 in the UK who currently live with type 1 diabetes..
