AJ Pritchard and Abbie Quinnen visit a fire station in Wimbledon

A PROFESSIONAL dancer and burns survivor has warned against trying dangerous life hacks at home after acciden­tally setting fire to her hair.

Abbie Quinnen, 24, sustained third-degree burns when she copied an online video about making a vase with her boyfriend, ex-Strictly dancer AJ Pritchard, 26, in January.

They set fire to a rope dipped in a flammable solution – the flames rapidly spread out of control, setting fire to her hair and clothes.

Ms Quinnen, who trained at the Urdang Academy based in the old Finsbury Town Hall building, said: “I had just received some flowers and we had seen a video online which looked like a simple craft tutorial on how to make a vase from a wine bottle.

“It was whilst we were in lockdown and lots of people were filming themselves trying life hacks and posting them online. The video looked so harmless, but it went very wrong. As soon as we lit the rope, the fire jumped over, and instantly my top and hair went up in flames.”

Ms Quinnen was in intensive care for a night before spending five days at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital specialist burns unit in January.

Firefighters are growing increasingly concerned that young people could be put­ting themselves at risk of serious injury by copying some videos without knowing the dangers..

Ms Quinnen has set up a petition campaigning for instructional videos that include a naked flame to come with a warning.

She said: “It really worries me that this video is still out there for people to see and whilst I initially wanted to hide what had happened, it’s really important for me to speak out on this and raise awareness of just how real a risk this is.”

The London Fire Brigade’s Tiarna-Ann Pearce said: “Life hacks can be handy, but it’s important to be aware of when they can be dangerous.

“There are lots of videos out there advising people to use appliances or other objects in ways other than for their intended use, like using toasters to cook meat. Toasters are not designed to have fat dripping on to the electrics. Last year, fire­fighters attended 315 fires caused by people using equipment unsafely

“If you see a video online that looks like it could put yourself or others in any danger, please don’t try it at home.”