Claudia Winkleman has issued a new warning to parents about the safety of their children on Halloween.
The ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ presenter, 44, is determined to keep the message clear in parents’ minds since her daughter’s Halloween costume blew up in flames in October 2014, leaving her badly burned.
“I don’t like Halloween because two years ago it turned out our screams were real,” she wrote in her column for InStyle magazine.
Winkleman wrote: “Thanks to the extraordinary NHS everything is now OK. I just don’t want any of you to go through what we did.
“So, get yourself a witchy costume, but please get a safe one.”
Winkleman’s daughter, Matilda, was eight at the time of her accident. The mum spoke for the first time about it in May 2015.
She explained how her daughter’s supermarket-bought costume was set alight by a naked flame.
“We couldn’t put her out,” Claudia explained during an emotional interview with BBC Watchdog. “Her tights had melted into her skin.
“She went up, is the only way I know how to describe it. It was not like fire I had seen before. It was the tights that... they came back to life. It was like those horrific birthday candles that you blow out and then they come back.”
Matilda has had several operations since the accident.
A ‘BBC Watchdog’ investigation looked into the flammability of children’s Halloween costumes in May 2015 and found some are classified as “toys” rather than “clothing”.
Supermarkets have since heightened their safety testing for costumes but parents are urged to keep their children away from any naked flames.
Mark Gardiner, a product safety expert with the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, previously told The Huffington Post UK they are “especially concerned” about Halloween costumes because many are poor quality.
“We would always advise that children are kept away from naked flames and parents should consider using battery-powered LED lights, instead of traditional candles,” he said.
“We are urging parents to check that the labels and packaging of costumes state the manufacturer’s name and address, along with their registered trademark.
“This is so the manufacturer can be traced.”
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