Strictly Come Dancing’s Oti Mabuse has revealed how she was left in tears by Jamie Laing’s exit.
Made In Chelsea’s Jamie had to withdraw from Strictly Come Dancing following the launch show due to injury.
He had to quit after hurting his foot ahead of the first live show later this month.
Speaking about the incident this week, Oti shared: “I was devastated when Jamie hurt himself and I had a long, tearful conversation with him.
“For a while I thought I had no partner and I was in bed all day thinking, ‘I can’t do the show!’ In moments like that you realise how much you love something.”
Oti has since been paired up with late addition to the line up, Emmerdale actor Kelvin Fletcher.
She told the Radio Times: “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!”
Kelvin and Oti have been catching up in training for their first dance, the Samba.
He said from the rehearsal room: “It’s so much faster than I was expecting. It’s like 100 miles an hour.
.@OtiMabuse is the only pro to score 40 for a Samba in #Strictly history. No pressure then @kelvin_fletcher. Just "RELAX!" 🤣 pic.twitter.com/NaZ5KiqRry
— BBC Strictly ✨ (@bbcstrictly) September 17, 2019
“I just keep telling her to slow things down. She’s so fast!”
Oti tells the camera in the first steps preview clip below: “The one thing that he’s struggling with is the booty popping part. That is Strictly 101.”
Meanwhile, Jamie has also spoken out about his departure from the show.
Jamie said today: “It was a real shame. that show is so exciting and fun and intimidating so you just want to do your best.
Recalling suffering his injury, Jamie told ITV’s This Morning: “The training was all good, I thought I was Billy Elliot. But it came to the day and it started to hurt. During the performance I slid towards the wonderful Oti, and as I popped up it felt like someone had hit me with a belt on the back of my foot.”
As for whether or not Jamie will return next year, he said: “I don’t know. [The injury is] not a long standing thing, it’s more that it’s one of those shows that everyone wants to do.
“Everyone wants to be a part of it, and my time was then and my journey didn’t go to plan.”
Strictly Come Dancing will be back on TV on Saturday, September 21 on BBC One with its first live show.
