Dancing With The Stars' Johnny Ward has revealed he felt "cursed" after his dad died and his mum suffered a heart attack.
His dad John became seriously ill with cancer while Johnny was competing in the hit show but made Johnny promise not to quit DWTS.
Determined Johnny performed just 24 hours after John, 72, passed away in March but revealed he regretted it afterwards.
And the former Love/Hate star told how he felt there was a "curse" on the family when mum Maureen suffered a heart attack.
He told The Irish Sun:“She’s good. I’m not going to lie there was a very worrying time.
"You think the death of your father is one thing and it was just a day after the final of my sister rang me and said, ‘Mum’s been taken into hospital, she’s after having a heart attack.’
“I just thought, my God is there a curse on this family?"
He added: "We went up to see her and she seemed fine but they said about three days after that it was a thing called ‘broken heart syndrome’.
"At the start when you see that on paper, you think that sounds like a fairytale or Disney movie. But it’s actually a thing, she wasn’t herself and it was very difficult," he said.
Johnny is now urging those with heart health concerns to get themselves checked out.
Lloyd’s Pharmacy are now operating 60 Heart Health Hubs across the country, where people can have their blood pressure checked for free in conjunction with the Irish Heart Foundation.
