Jason Donovan has spoken out after being forced to quit Dancing On Ice.
The actor and singer announced last night that he had to withdraw from the competition as a result of ongoing back pain.
Jason missed the latest live show and had been resting throughout the week.
However he’s now had to withdraw on advice from the show’s medical team.
In a post on his Facebook page, Jason shared all on the news.
He said: “I am devastated to announce that due to this ongoing back issue that occurred on Dancing On Ice about ten days ago and at the advice of my medical team in the show that unfortunately I can’t continue in the competition and therefore have to withdraw.
“It’s a nightmare and I’m completely gutted. We put so much work into getting to this point but I have to respect my health and I have to respect my body moving forward. That is my biggest priority.”
Jason went on to praise the Dancing On Ice team.
He enthused: “I want to thank everyone at Dancing On Ice – the judges, Phil, Holly, the production team, the runners, and most importantly within that I want to thank the celebrities who have become friends and also the pros who just do such a great job with us all.
“I want to thank the fans for voting for me – sometimes those costumes were colourful and sometimes those moves were slightly dubious but we tried and went out there and gave it our best.”
Finally Jason thanked his pro partner Alexandra Schauman.
He said: “Most importantly I want to thank Alex who has been a beacon of support. She has believed in me when times I’ve not even believed in myself. The time we’ve spent on the ice has just been what the show is about, that friendship we have goes behind the show itself.”
“I’ll be sitting at home this Sunday night watching and cheering on,” Jason added.
Jason is the latest celeb forced out of this year’s series.
So far actor Joe-Warren Plant, actress, singer and presenter Denise Van Outen, TV personality Billie Shepherd and actor and comedian Rufus Hound have all also been forced to withdraw due to either injury or on medical grounds.
Last Sunday’s show was postponed in a first for the series, with a pre-recorded highlights special instead airing in its place.
Appearing on This Morning, Dancing On Ice co-host Phillip Schofield said: “Hopefully we are up and running with that next week, with a bit of luck, I mean, but who knows?”
Holly Willoughby added: “It will be, it’ll be fine, let’s remain positive I think.”
Dancing On Ice airs Sunday nights at 6PM on ITV.
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