Oti Mabuse has revealed she burst into tears when she was told she would still get a celebrity Strictly Come Dancing partner after Jamie Laing was forced to leave the show early.
Oti was devastated when the Made In Chelsea star pulled out due to his foot injury, and admitted she spent all day in bed upset over the fact she might not be able to perform with a partner on the show this series.
“I was devastated when Jamie hurt himself and I had a long, tearful conversation with him,” Oti revealed.
“For a while I thought I had no partner and I was in bed all day thinking, ‘I can’t do the show!'”
Fortunately for Oti, Jamie was replaced by former Emmerdale star Kelvin Fletcher, 35, and she burst into tears when she got the call to let her know she would still be partnered with a celebrity.
Oti added to Radio Times magazine: “I was feeling really bad, but one of the producers said, ‘We’ll see what we can do.’ When they called and told me about Kelvin, I cried – and it turns out he’s incredible!”
Jamie, 30, suffered a painful ligament tear during the group dance for the show’s launch, but he tried to push through despite being in agony.
He said recently: “I honestly thought I was Billy Elliot, I just wanted to dance. It came to the day, it hurt a little bit but we warmed up and I was fine.
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“We’ve been practising this dance for three and a half weeks and I [danced] into the wonderful [Oti Mabuse] and as I popped up in the air like a jack in the box it felt like someone had hit me on the back of it [foot] with a belt.
“There was popping in my foot. It’s like stepping on glass and I grabbed Oti and said ‘Oti, something’s happened in my foot!’ And she just went ‘Dance!’ and I went ‘OK.’
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“Because I think with those dancers they go through pain and struggles the entire time, the show must go on. And being British, you just smile and go through the entire thing.”
It was recently revealed Jamie would still get his chance to shine after being offered a part in next year’s Strictly Come Dancing.
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