Neil Jones, 37, was left “unable to walk” after suffering an injury during rehearsals last weekend and had to pull out of performing with his celebrity partner Alex Scott on Strictly Come Dancing. The dancer has now given an update to his fans and revealed he still needs to recover.
Neil tweeted to his 73,500 followers: “Yes I can’t wait this week myself @AlexScott will be dancing American Smooth to ‘Ain’t no mountain high enough’.”
The dancer, who has a celebrity partner on the BBC One show for the first time, added: “I just need to hurry up and recover.”
On spin-off, It Takes Two, tonight, a video of Neil and Alex was shown from their American Smooth rehearsals.
Host, Zoe Ball, pointed out Neil was on a crutch and instead of dancing with the former footballer, he was telling her what to do.
JUST IN: Strictly Come Dancing 2019: Will Bayley QUITS after knee injury
Ian said: “Is it gonna be Neil this week? could be anybody! Could be Kevin could be Gorka… who knows.”
At the weekend, Neil revealed the truth about his injury after it was announced on the main show by hosts Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly that he wouldn’t be performing.
The dancer said he “couldn’t even walk” after hurting himself and said he wished it was a just a “tight muscle”, after a viewer expressed their “disappointment” over his inability to dance
One person said to Neil: “Disappointing to learn that it was just a tight calf muscle which stopped you dancing. With physio, being a pro I would have expected you to keep with tradition, the show must go on.”
He replied: “I wish it was just a tight muscle and I’ve performed with a ripped muscle and a hernia but last night I physically couldn’t even walk.”
Neil isn’t the only injured star on Strictly Come Dancing, as contestant Will Bayley has been forced to pull out of the show after hurting himself at the weekend.
Will didn’t perform on Saturday night with Janette Manrara after falling and injuring his knee, and now it’s been announced he won’t be continuing his journey on the show.
The Paralympic table tennis player said he “loved” being on Strictly Come Dancing and thanked Janette for “believing” in him during their time competing on the BBC One show.
“I’m gutted my Strictly journey has had to come to an end,” he said.
“I’ve loved being part of the show, and am so grateful for the phenomenal support we have received.”
Will went on: “I want to say a special thank you to Janette for believing in me and giving me the confidence to believe in myself. The things we achieved, from our Couple’s Choice dance through to the lifts in our Salsa, will stay with me forever. I’ve had the time of my life.”
The pair appeared on spin-off It Takes Two tonight where they spoke about their time on the competition and became very emotional.
Strictly Come Dancing airs on BBC One at 7pm on Saturday.
