A legendary ballroom dance coach who helped train performers connected to both “Strictly Come Dancing” and “Dancing With the Stars” is now facing a life-altering recovery after suffering a devastating stroke. Jane Bullock, 60, built a respected career in the competitive ballroom world and spent years mentoring dancers who later appeared on the popular TV competitions.
Bullock and Warren spent their lives in the world of ballroom dance. The couple also built a ballroom studio inside their Wolverhampton home, as reported by The Mirror. Their work was featured in the Channel 5 series “Baby Ballroom,” which premiered in 2017. The show later found a global audience when it was released on Netflix and streamed in more than 40 countries.
Alongside her husband, Warren, she also ran the ZigZag Dance Factory, where the couple trained young dancers and rising professionals. But last August, their lives changed in an instant.
After finishing a dance class, Bullock returned home and began doing routine chores. Moments later, she suddenly collapsed.
Her husband said the situation unfolded within minutes. Warren has been sharing every detail from Jane’s recovery and hospitalization on his Facebook account.
Husband Recalls the Terrifying Moments Before She Collapsed
In a recent interview with BBC News, Warren recalled the terrifying moments when Bullock began showing signs of a stroke.
“It’s destroyed her life,” Warren said. He said she suddenly started staggering across the room before collapsing onto the floor. Within seconds, he realized something was terribly wrong.
Warren said Bullock’s mouth had dropped, and she could only move one arm and one leg. Recognizing the warning signs, he suspected she was having a stroke and immediately sought help.
In a post shared by Warren in August 2025, he wrote that Paramedics rushed Bullock to New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton. Doctors later transferred her to a specialist unit at Royal Stoke University Hospital for further treatment.
Medical tests soon revealed a blood clot in her carotid artery, the major vessel that supplies oxygen-rich blood to the brain, neck, and face.
Emergency Brain Surgery and Weeks on Life Support
Medical scans later showed the stroke had caused severe swelling in Bullock’s brain.
Doctors also discovered a midline shift, a serious condition in which pressure forces brain tissue to move across the brain’s centerline. To reduce the swelling and relieve the pressure, surgeons were forced to remove part of her skull.
“She spent about a month on life support and a ventilator,” Warren told BBC News.
Bullock has now spent seven months in the hospital and continues her recovery with rehabilitation at West Park Hospital.
The stroke left her paralyzed on her left side. Warren said the health crisis has also affected her cognitive abilities.
He explained that Bullock now struggles with basic tasks she once handled easily, such as telling time or using a television remote.
“She’s become very depressed; she feels like she’s lost everything,” he said.
Family Faces Emotional and Financial Struggles During Recovery: How To Help
Bullock is expected to be discharged from the hospital soon, but the future remains uncertain.
Warren said he worries about how he will manage her care once she returns home. Their children live far away, and professional support is costly.
He said he has “no support” and was advised that he might need to leave his job to provide full-time care. Around-the-clock care could cost about £2,000 per week, a price he says the family cannot afford.
Speaking about the emotional toll, Warren said the stroke has affected both of their lives.
“It’s destroyed her life, but it’s impacted mine massively too. The only reason I keep going is because if she didn’t have me, who would she have? I’m trying to do her job and mine. We’ve lost her income, so it’s been a financial struggle as well as an emotional one.”
Despite the challenges, Warren said his focus is on helping Bullock find joy again.
He described her as a “good person” and said his goal now is to make her life “worthwhile and enjoyable.”
A GoFundMe campaign created to support Bullock’s care and help adapt their Wolverhampton home has already raised more than £46,000.
In a message on the fundraiser page, Warren reflected on the moment everything changed.
“On 10th August, our world stopped. Jane suffered a catastrophic stroke and brain bleed that very nearly took her life. She needed resuscitation and spent nearly a month in the ICU on a ventilator. Nothing prepares you for standing at a bedside, not knowing if the person you love will survive, or what life will look like if they do.”
The GoFundMe campaign created to help adapt the couple’s home and cover Jane Bullock’s care has already raised more than £47,700 toward its £50,000 goal, drawing support from more than 1,300 donors.
