Strictly Come Dancing’s Rose Ayling-Ellis has told how she is pushing through the pain to prepare for two dances in Saturday's semi-final.
The 27-year-old Eastenders star told how she suffered the injuries to her hip after falling several times on to crash mats as she rehearsed for the American Smooth last week.
Her partner Giovanni Pernice choreographed a daring 'leap of faith' move that saw Rose jump through the air into his arms.
Recalling the tricky moment on Strictly’s It Takes Two to host Janette Manrara, Rose shared that she originally learned the move via watching a video, with Giovanni reassuring her: “I will catch you, just do it, just go.”
The duo then took the moved to the dance floor using mats to soften the fall but soon realised ''the pressure'' was actually hurting Rose more, than if Giovanni caught her and 'slide her round'.
“I’ve got a big bruise on my hip,” Rose said, gesturing to her left side.
Giovanni explained:“It’s one of those that you have to nail it. Something can go very wrong if you can’t catch her."
Viewers of the show have watched as the pair have formed a close bond as they have progressed further in the competition.
Janette joked: "Giovanni mentioned how close you were actually going to be, but Rose you weren't very excited about it."
The 27-year-old, who is the show's first deaf contestant, had teased Giovanni about his "sweaty" body during a gruelling training session this week.
After playing out the clip, Giovanni shouted: "People will pay to have this sweat. People would pay to be that close to me."
As has become customary for the semi-finals, the remaining contestants will perform twice in the semi-final, with Rose and Giovanni confirmed to be doing the Argentine tango to Eduardo Rovira's 'A Evaristo Carriego' and the waltz to Ellie Goulding's 'How Long Will I Love You'.
Other semi-finalists are John Whaite and Johannes Radebe, AJ Odudu and Kai Widdrington and Rhys Stephenson and Nancy Xu.
Strictly Come Dancing 2021 continues tomorrow, December 11 at 7.05pm on BBC One, with the results show airing on Sunday, December 12 at 7.20pm.
