Strictly Come Dancing star Stefan Dennis has said he was able to “overcome” his fears about dance before his early exit from the competition following an injury.
The Neighbours actor, 66, who was paired with professional dancer Dianne Buswell on the BBC One show, pulled out of the series on Monday after an injury to his calf.
He told BBC Two spin-off, It Takes Two: “Sadly, I got an injury on Saturday… and I was told the bad news that I had torn my calf muscle quite badly to the point where I can’t dance for the rest of the competition.
“In fact, I can’t dance full stop… for two months.”
Australian stars Dennis and Buswell were unable to perform on Saturday October 11 because of illness, but returned last weekend with their highest scoring dance, a Charleston to Dance Monkey by Tones And I.
Dennis said: “If they’d given me a five, I still would have been happy, only because I thought that dance was absolutely brilliant.
“We just had the best time. And I think because we had fun, we both… we committed to having fun before we went out and because we did that, we did and the dance went off without a hitch.”
He added: “There’s something that Dianne said, and… that was the number one thing for me, was to learn to be able to take my beautiful wife on the dance floor.
“And Dianne has given me – Dianne and Strictly – Dianne has taught me how to actually overcome the fear of, ‘Oh, I can’t dance. I can’t dance’, and actually say to myself, ‘No, you know what? I can dance’.”
Buswell, 36, said: “I feel great, and obviously I would love to continue with Stefan.
“I just, I wish you the best in your recovery, and I want to say you were absolutely phenomenal, and I enjoyed my time with you so, so, so much. I’m very proud of you.”
The professional dancer won Strictly last year alongside comedian Chris McCausland – the first blind person to take home the glitterball trophy.
Buswell recently announced she is pregnant with her first child with partner and YouTube star, Joe Sugg, whom she met on the show in 2018.
