Graziano helped ‘pull Kym through’, she said (Picture: Kieron McCarron/BBC)

Kym Marsh has revealed she came close to quitting Strictly Come Dancing after suffering a panic attack, saying that she ‘couldn’t carry on’.

Last week, it was reported that the Coronation Street star had been forced to halt rehearsals hours before a live show, as she became ‘very upset’ and ‘couldn’t stop crying and hyperventilating’.

Having previously shared that she had a ‘full-on meltdown’ before the first live performance, the 46-year-old has shared in a new interview that a panic attack ‘just came over’ her ‘almost out of nowhere’, which made her consider leaving the BBC programme.

‘I’ve always suffered from panic attacks. It’s something I don’t mind talking about because I know it can affect anyone at any time,’ she said

‘Sometimes it has been ages [since an attack] and then suddenly one just hits.’

Speaking to The Sun, Kym explained that she doesn’t know what caused her panic attack, although she had received some ‘harsh comments’ from the judges the previous week, and had been going through a ‘tiring’ time doing her other jobs at the same time.

Kym and Graziano received high praise for their stunning Argentine Tango (Picture: Guy Levy/BBC/PA)

‘I just lost my confidence completely,’ she said. ‘I went to pieces and said “I don’t think I can do this”. At that moment I wasn’t sure I could even carry on with the show.’

After the rehearsal was cancelled, Kym said that ‘everyone was great in the crew and the production’, with fellow Strictly contestant Hamza Yassin being ‘especially kind’.

‘He just calmed me down and tried to remind me “We’re only dancing”,’ she recalled, while Kym’s professional dance partner Graziano Di Prima ‘really pulled me through’.

‘He’s just the most incredible man and we’ve got really close, even though he had no idea who I was beforehand. Now he comes over to our house once a week for dinner,’ she stated.

Tonight, Kym and Graziano, 28, will be taking on the American Smooth to Chasing Cars by Cinematic Pop.

Last Saturday, they achieved their highest score of the competition so far, earning 37 out of a possible 40 for their Argentine Tango, resulting in them being joint top of the leaderboard alongside Helen Skelton and Gorka Márquez.

Strictly Come Dancing returns tonight at 6.55pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

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