Claudia Winkleman admits she’s haunted by daughter Matilda’s screams after reliving the horrifying moment her Halloween costume caught fire
THE Strictly Come Dancing host was left distraught in 2014 when Matilda, then eight, was engulfed in flames
CLAUDIA Winkleman can't remember life before the horrific Halloween her daughter's costume was engulfed in flames when they went trick or treating.
The Strictly Come Dancing, 45, host is full of gratitude to the NHS for treating little Matilda in 2014 and is urging parents to be extra careful when buying Halloween outfits for their children.
Speaking to , she said: "I don't like Halloween because three years ago it turned out our screams were real.
"She 'went up' is the only way I can describe it - it was a spark, and she screamed out for me. It was like those horrific birthday candles that you blow out and they come back. It was really fast. It was definitely life-changing for me.
"I can't remember life before it. I wish I'd been the one dressed up like a witch. She went up, and I don't want that to happen to another child."
Matilda, then eight, was trick-or-treating in a posh square near her family’s central London home, when the cape on her Halloween witch’s costume went up in flames.
A neighbour said the girl’s outfit touched a candle in a carved pumpkin on a doorstep of a house and went up “like a fireball”.
The woman added: “She was in a group of little girls, who all know each other round here. Apparently she stepped over a pumpkin with a candle in and it set fire to her fancy dress outfit.”
It is understood that Claudia was with the pals when the accident happened.
Evelyn Bacolv, 34, whose daughters were in separate trick-or-treat group, said: “I’m not sure exactly where it happened because they didn’t see Matilda when the cape caught fire, only when the ambulance arrived.”
Speaking at the time, the couple’s nanny said: “Claudia was very worried.
“She is at the hospital. She hasn’t left her side.”
The family — whose close neighbours include ex-PM Tony Blair and wife Cherie — had been planning to attend a Halloween extravaganza hosted by chat show star Jonathan Ross later that night.
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