Many celebrities over the years have fallen victim to a different kind of ‘curse’ on Strictly Come Dancing.
Famous faces such as Olympic athlete Jade Johnson, former footballer Tony Adams and presenter AJ Odudu have been forced to pull out of the BBC One show after sustaining horrific injuries that prohibited them from performing again on the iconic dancefloor. Nick Knowles could be this year’s victim, as he managed to injure his shoulder while changing a tyre before later hurting his leg in training which could impact his future on the show.
The 62-year-old injured his leg while practising the Charleston for Movie Week and missed last Saturday’s show, but has been given permission to perform it on Saturday - if he can overcome his injury. A decision on his inclusion in the show will be made tomorrow, and fans are hopeful Nick doesn’t join the long list of famous faces who have become seriously injured while taking part in the competition.
Here, we take a look at the celebs who have been forced to quit Strictly, leaving their Glitterball dreams shattered…
Jade Johnson
Back in 2009, the former Olympic long jumper was forced to exit the show early after her knee “popped” during training with her professional dancer partner Ian Waite. “It’s very emotional. Just sitting here is really hard for me. The knee is quite sore,” she told Tess Daly in week nine, but show bosses allowed her through to the following week.
However, BBC doctors advised her to quit the competition as she could face further injury, and Jade later revealed her injury prevented her from competing in the 2012 Olympics in London. The ligament damage she suffered led to her missing out on a place in Team GB as she was unaware her ligament injury had never properly healed.
“Strictly has cost me my place in the Olympics. I thought the show injury had healed and I was ready to compete. Sadly it flared up just before the trials and made it impossible to get through them,” she told The Mirror. “The pain was excruciating. I never thought it would come back all these years later.”
Will Bayley
The decorated Paralympian appeared on the show in 2019, but was forced to withdraw six weeks in after tearing his knee ligaments in rehearsals. He was partnered with Janette Manrara, and he claimed the professional dancer made him repeat a jump in rehearsals after his first “rubbish” attempt”, but the redo left him in agony.
Earlier this year, amid the scandal that engulfed Strictly, Will hit out at the show’s lack of protocol and duty of care, as he claimed he was left in serious pain for months and the injury is still affecting him today. “I’ll never get over that injury – you have it for life. I’ve already got a limiting disability but this on top of it. I wake up in the morning and it hurts. I can now only train for a couple hours before it’s sore,” he explained.
Will also said he was terrified after sustaining the injury in his leg, as he feared he wouldn’t be able to play table tennis again, adding that it was a “horrific time for me and my family”. He later added that while the BBC denied him compensation for loss of earnings, they did pay for his surgery in 2020.
AJ Odudu
Strictly fans were heartbroken when AJ was forced to pull out of the final in 2021 just hours before the grand final. The TV presenter, who fuelled rumours of a romance with her professional dance partner Kai Widdrington, was devastated as she announced she had injured her ankle.
“I’m deeply upset that I am unable to perform in the final due to a torn ligament in my right ankle,” she said in a statement after it was revealed she couldn’t walk without crutches. “Learning to dance over the last 13 weeks has been an incredible honour and to do it alongside someone as special, patient and devoted as Kai is something I’ll treasure forever.”
Last year, she joked she “danced so hard I danced my ligament off”, and admitted she cried for months after being forced to pull out of the final. “I'd been working so hard, working muscles I never even knew I had. My toes were sore, my ankles were sore, my bum cheeks were sore every single day,” she told the Mail on Sunday. “But once the dust settled, I looked back and reflected – those were some of the best days of my life.”
Tony Adams
The former Arsenal and England footballer shocked fans in 2022 when he announced he was leaving in week seven after sustaining an injury while performing a high-energy jive with dance partner Katya Jones. The duo were due to face off with Tyler West and Diane Buswell in the dreaded dance off but it was called off after Tess Daly announced Tony would be leaving the show “due to an injury sustained on Saturday night”.
He heaped praise on his “exceptional” dance partner Katya, and said it had been physically exhausting training every week. “I’ve got to be honest, it’s tough, physically it’s really tough out there, but dancing is really fantastic for you,” he said. He later explained how he suffered his injury on It Takes Two, and said he did the routine with a previous ailment. “I had a bit of a hammy last week, went out and danced, then on Thursday pointing my toe down, bit of retraction, that’s not done in football, you know, point your toe. I kind of went, ‘Ah!’ so we didn’t do anything [on] Friday,” Tony shared.
Nigel Harman
The former EastEnders star was heartbroken when he was forced to quit the show just hours before the quarter-final last year, as he was one of the favourites to lift the Glitterball trophy. The 50-year-old actor sustained a serious injury in rehearsals and was rushed to hospital with a suspected broken rib. Nigel and Katya were due to perform a Charleston to Step in Time from Mary Poppins, and returning to Strictly to explain his absence, he became visibly emotional as he spoke to host Claudia Winkleman.
“I was leaping off a rostrum and was about to be caught by some very handsome men and, as I flew I was Peter Pan and as I landed, I was in A&E. I’ve done something to my rib and it’s quite painful,” he said. “This really hasn’t sunk in. When I watched everyone come down the stairs, I was a bit like, 'Oh, this is real, I'm not a part of this anymore'."
“It’s quite hard to talk about it, I’m not going to lie,” Nigel said, as he confessed he couldn’t look at Katya otherwise he would break down in tears. “The only reason I'm standing here is 'cause of all the work you've put into me. You turn up everyday with hundreds of great ideas, you challenge me, you push me, you support me, you make me laugh. But, most of all, you're just part of me now.”
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