Strictly Come Dancing star AJ Odudu is "frustrated and upset" about an injury she suffered just days before the show's final.
The 33-year-old has vowed she is "doing everything" to make sure she can dance still, but she has been unable to rehearse since Monday after injuring the ligament in the arch of her right foot and has also had to use crutches.
She is due to take to the dancefloor in the grand finale of the BBC One show with her professional dance partner Kai Widdrington, on December 18.
READ MORE: Strictly's AJ Odudu's injury forces her to use crutches just days before final
Speaking at a press conference hosted by It Takes Two presenter Rylan Clark, she appeared with her right foot lifted and strapped with bandages.
AJ said: "Basically, long story short, I've hurt the ligament in my arch, and I can't put any weight on my foot at all. So we have missed a lot of training, because I can't stand up, I'm on crutches and I'm doing everything I can to try and be there on Saturday night."
Seated alongside her, Kai, who made his debut as a professional dancer on Strictly this year, said the pair had rehearsed their show dance on Monday.
He said: "We rehearsed (on) Monday, we did the show dance, we got through it. Obviously we still need to patch it up a little bit and connect everything, there's a lot of lifts in there. But the other dances that we're going to do we did and put the music on and AJ knows them."
AJ added: "It's just really frustrating actually. Because the two dances that you mentioned that we are repeating from the series, (we've) not performed them in weeks and weeks, so without giving too much away, they're energy-inducing dances.
"On Monday we were optimistic because we were like, 'Do you know what? The steps are still there. Just got to build up the stamina... And then as Kai mentioned, our show dance, it's (a) beautiful, epic show dance, that we have stepped through, we have marked through, I know where we're meant to be, what I'm meant to be doing.
"But again, it's one of those things that you need the practice in order to give it everything essentially. So I am at this moment in time very frustrated and upset. But again, our main focus is my foot at the moment and just making sure that we can make it on Saturday."
During the finale, each of the final three couples - Odudu and Widdrington, former Bake Off winner John Whaite and Johannes Radebe, and Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice - will perform three routines each.
The final three celebrities will take to the dancefloor in the Strictly Come Dancing Final 2021 on December 18 at 7pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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