Strictly Come Dancing star Nikita Kanda left shocked after being punched in the face ‘by random guy on the street’ as she details terrifying incident

Nikita Kanda was left shocked after being involved in a terrifying street attack on Thursday.

The Strictly Come Dancing star, 28, took to Instagram to express her fear after a random guy punched her in the face on the tube at Oxford Circus station in broad daylight.

The BBC Asian Network radio presenter, who appeared in the 2023 series, detailed the horrific encounter with fans and shared that police are investigating the incident.

She said: ‘Something really scary happened today and I feel the need to share it.

“After finishing my show today I was walking underground at Oxford Circus station minding my business looking at my phone and some random guy decided to punch me in the face for no reason and laughed about it.

“I’m in complete shock that someone could do this. I’ve lived in London all my life and nothing like this has ever happened.

‘I’d like to think I’m very street smart and always aware of my surroundings. Fortunately, I’m not hurt, the big sunglasses I wear actually protected my face somehow.

“It’s absolutely disgusting that someone could do this in broad daylight and what was even sadder, no one around me cared or batted an eyelid that someone would hit me in public.”

‘The police are dealing with this and taking it very seriously, but I thought it was important to share if you walk alone or travel alone a lot like I do, just to be careful.

‘There are very unpleasant people out there and this opened my eyes and shook me. What kind of world do we live in?

Nikita became the second celebrity to be eliminated from the competition alongside her dance partner Gorka Marquez after losing the dance contest to Zara McDermott.

The radio host is known for presenting BBC Asian Network’s breakfast show, and had previously fronted the Saturday afternoon show.

Her role as a presenter has seen her interview a number of well-known names, including Killing Eve star Sandra Oh, Bridgerton actors Kate Sharma and Charithra Chandran, Marvel actor Awkwafina and singer Nick Jonas.

Before working for BBC Asian Network, Kanda worked at Hindi channel Zee TV and hosted the drive show on Asian Star 101.6FM.

She has also presented regular reports on BBC One’s The One Show on a range of topics, from government support for women’s sport to the rise of cashless businesses.

As well as presenting, Nikita has appeared in several West End theater productions including The Wiz, Bugsy Malone, Annie and Pocahontas.

She also appeared as one of thirty women in the final series of the ITV dating show Take Me Out in 2019.