Circus vampire Stephanie Mercury suffers from a condition which is a real pain in the neck after she developed a bizarre allergy – to fake BLOOD.
The pretty 29-year-old plays a blood sucking vampire girl as part of her death-defying aerial acrobatic act with the Circus of Horrors.
As one half of the ‘Sinister Sisters’ she is required to plunge her teeth into the neck’s of her victims before she has her throat slit by the show’s master of ceremonies Dr Haze.
But she was almost forced to quit her career after she kept breaking out in a painful rash whenever she came into contact with the fake squirting blood.
After six shows of being in constant discomfort with the agonising condition she feared she would not be able to carry on in her role as a vampire.
Stephanie, from Bournemouth, Dorset, said: “I thought I would have to give up my career because I was in so much pain and couldn’t focus on my act.
“The reactions started flaring up whenever I had the fake blood on me, which was everyday. We use half a litre of the stuff for my stunts.
“It would cover the whole of my throat and shoulders and chest – and made them feel like they were on fire.
“It was just so painful and itchy and wouldn’t really disappear before the next performance so it would flare up again and get even worse.
“I thought I would have to run out of the act just so I could try and wash it off, but knew I couldn’t without ruining the show.
“I tried all the different types of fake blood but nothing seemed to work.”
After going to her doctors she was being prescribed antihistamines as well as some Bepanthen baby cream.
As a result Stephanie is now happily being splattered in the red stuff on a nightly basis without any allergic reaction.
She added: “Last month I went to a doctor and he thought I still had the fake blood on my neck because it was that red and raw.
“At the time I just thought I can’t do this anymore which was terrible as it is what I love have trained really hard to do.
“But luckily the pharmacy gave me some antihistamine and also some baby cream which has meant I stop having the reactions.
“It was really strange and obviously looked ridiculous that a person playing a vampire was allergic to blood.”
The Circus of Horrors is currently touring the UK and finishes in Weymouth on March 25.
It was a massive hit when it appeared on the 2011 series of Britain’s Got Talent with Simon Cowell saying: “I loved it and I’m sure the royal family would love to watch this.”
