Debbie McGee says she was a hostage in Iran for three months.

The 64-year-old widow of the late magician Paul Daniels made the startling disclosure on Wednesday’s ITV breakfast show.

The former Strictly Come Dancing contestant described how she and many other dancers were imprisoned after being “herded into a block of flats”.
I have lived a storybook existence, but I have also coped with a lot of things, she stated. We didn’t know you were a hostage in Iran, they all said.

Garraway responded, surprised, “Well, I didn’t know that.”

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Pictured with late spouse Paul Daniels (handout), who passed away in 2016

Then Madeley enquired, “How long were you held hostage for?”

“About three months,” she answered. “I worked for a ballet company, and we were all herded into a block of flats because we were all Westerners.”The lads had to leave at six in the morning, and the only food we could get was from street bakers—flat pizzas without any butter or anything, sometimes some cans of goods, and perhaps a few eggs.

The fact that she met Daniels as a result of it all was sort of a silver lining.
That is how I got to know Paul Daniels. I needed a job when I returned to England, she said.
Previously in 2018, McGee spoke about her experience in Iran on the television show Pointless Celebrities.

Debbie McGee acknowledged that she accepted the Iranian job mostly for the money. Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

Well, I had intended to stay for three years, but if you’ve watched the Ben Affleck film Argo, you’ll know what I went through.

“I was hiding in a house. I was detained at the airport. I talked up one of the customs officials who stamped my passport.
McGee responded, “They were paying five times more than the National Ballet,” when asked why she initially joined the Iranian Ballet. Money was the issue.