Strictly Come Dancing star 'traumatised' after being mugged in broad daylight

Michelle Tsiakkas was left 'traumatised' after her phone was stolen in broad daylight. The Strictly Come Dancing professional, 29, had been on her way to a new dentist in Central London early one morning when a man on a e-bike snatched her personal device from her hands and she tried to advise others to be 'super careful' when using phones out and about in public.

During an appearance on Thursday's Good Morning Britain, she told hosts Ed Balls and Kate Garraway: "I was on my way to the dentist, it was a new dentist, I hadn't been there before, it was early morning around 9am. Took my phone out and about five to 10 seconds of me taking it out, it was grabbed."

"I'm generally quite aware as a person, I look around me. But you just can't predict these things and this is why I would advise everyone to be super careful. Even when you think you're aware of your surroundings, these criminals are professionals, they come out of nowhere and your phone is gone." It comes as a spate of stars from the hit BBC dancing competition have also spoken out about the going through the same ordeal.

READ MORE: BBC Strictly star Seann Walsh left shaken as strange man jumps into his car

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Making a plea to others about how to avoid such a situation, she said: "My advice would be if you want to use your phone, pop into a shop, look at directions, send the message, come back out. This is what I do now after my own personal experience. I was quite traumatised, actually, yeah, because it's a shock.

But the TV star was still left shocked by the whole thing, and recalled 'losing the strength in her legs' as she watched the whole incident unfold as she added: "You don't expect it, it's an invasion of your personal space.

"When it happened, I felt like I'd lost the strength the in my legs. I think I screamed at him as well. It was early morning, so these lovely two ladies came to help me out and gave me their phones."

Michelle's first thought was to sort out all of her personal details, and had no time to report the incident by the time all of that was dealt with, and she explained: "Basically, my appointment was at 9:30, the phone got stolen at 9:15. So I thought 'What can I do to keep my data safe?'

"Call the bank, cancel my card, call the phone provider, cancel my SIM, call my mum. By the time I'd done that, there was no time, I had to get my fillings done. "

"With the phone tracking, I tried to track my phone through my phone through the laptop because it was linked through Find My Phone.

"But they had switched it off, so these criminals know what they're doing. They switch the phone off so the police can't track it."

Host Ed then explained that while the police find it 'very hard' to get into a stolen phone, a way round that is for the owner to have stored their medical information in the phone and to have stored emergency contacts, which can be accessed without unlocking the phone. He also urged users to make a note of their device's unique IMEI number and it can be traced back that way.

Meanwhile, Michelle is gearing up to return to screens as part of the next series of Strictly Come Dancing from September but she stressed that even though rehearsals are in full swing with her fellow professionals, she has 'no idea' which celebrities will be taking to the dance floor yet.

She said: "We're getting close, rehearsals have started, so they're in full swing, we're learning all of our group numbers we're in. I can't believe we're starting so soon. But the public thinks we know more than we actually do. We don't know who we're getting, if we're getting or who it's gonna be."

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