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HOUSTON — A Houston woman’s pole dancing ended in disaster after the pole hit a fire sprinkler and flooded her and a neighbor’s apartment.
Asha Gilbert was filming herself in her living room on July 6 as she followed along to a pole dance workout tutorial.
Right as she begins spinning on the pole, the top dislodges from the ceiling and hits a fire sprinkler, causing water to shoot everywhere.
“Immediately, I’m in shock because I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, this cannot be happening to me,'” said Gilbert.
The pole was a recent addition to Gilbert’s living room. She says a colleague had given it to her just three days prior.
“He was like, ‘Hey, I have this pole, I’m giving it away. Do you want it?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, absolutely I want it.,” Gilbert said.
But when she and a friend installed it, they didn’t anchor it to the ceiling. Instead, they relied on the pole’s natural tension between ceiling and floor.
“It wasn’t even a thought that it could possibly hit the sprinkler,” Gilbert said. “We were more worried about it hitting a wall.”
Much of Gilbert’s furniture was ruined, and she had to move to a different apartment.
She said the water also seeped into a downstairs neighbor’s unit.
“I explained everything, and she was very, very cool and understanding, and I appreciated that,” said Gilbert.
Gilbert’s original Instagram post has already racked up more than 700,000 views. While she’s comfortable with the temporary fame, she said she wishes pole dancing didn’t get such a bad rap.
“You have to be very strong, a strong upper body, strong core to be able to do it, and I just wish people understood that it doesn’t just have to be sexualized,” she said. “It can be looked at as a workout and a great workout at that.”
That said, Gilbert said her days of in-home pole dancing are over.
“They are done. For now,” she said.
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