Strictly fans were left wondering what Nigel Harman’s shock exit will mean for the latest live shows.
It was revealed hours before the latest episode that Harman had been forced to withdraw from the dancing competition due to an injury.
His decision was even more crushing considering the BBC series is due to finish in a fortnight.
The latest episode would have seen the remaining celebrities – EastEnders actor Bobby Brazier, ex-Coronation Street star Ellie Leach, former tennis player Annabel Croft and musical theatre performer Layton Williams – compete for a place in next weeks semi-final.
At the beginning of the show, hosts tess Daly and claude Winkelman addressed Harman’s departure – and revealed what his exit means for this wee’s results.
“As you can see we only have four couples,” Daly said, adding: “Unfortunately, Nigel has sustained an injury which means he is uanble to perform on tonight’s show and has had to withdraw from the competition.”
She continued “We are as devastated as he is, but Nigel and Katya will be chatting to us later on in the show.
Winkelman confirmed there will be “no public vote tonight and no eliminathion this wekend”, stating: “But the jduegs will still be scoting and those scores will be carried over.”
Since news of Harman’s exit surfaced, many send messages of well-wishes to the Casualty and ex-EastEnders actor, acknowledging that it must have been a serious injury for him to quit outright at such a late stage in the competition.
Usually, in the past when other contestants have suffered injuries, they return the following week.
A spokesperson told The Independent of Harman’s departure: “Unfortunately Nigel has sustained an injury which means he is unable to perform in tonight’s show and has had to withdraw from Strictly.”
Nigel Harman has quit ‘Strictly Come Dancing’— (BBC)
It seems the injury was sustained early Saturday afternoon as his professional dance partner Katya Jones posted an Instagram Story, showing a preview of tonight’s episode, at approximately 11am GMT.
The image included Harman’s name, and Jones captioned it: “Here we goooo!!”
Just one day earlier, on Friday (1 December), Harman described his fitness as “really quite good” in an interview with The Independent.
He said: “I’m quite tired but I feel like I’m feeling quite fresh in some ways. I know that’s a paradox. I’m quite a little bit proud of myself to be 50 still be leaping around out there, so that’s quite good.
A source told The Sun: “He and Katya were really disappointed as they were hoping to stay in the competition.
‘Strictly’ stars Nigel Harman and Katya Kones— (BBC)
“They hadn’t been in the bottom two so had a real chance of making it to the finals. Nigel has been training really hard and really threw himself into rehearsals.”
Harman was one of the favourites to win this year’s series.
This week, he thanked the public for their “overwhelming” support after he was saved from the dreaded dance off despite being near the bottom of the leaderboard.
Strictly Comes Dancing airs at 7.25pm on BBC One.
