Strictly judge Shirley Ballas has been left devastated after being told she will not be able to dance in the final owing to a painful hamstring injury.
The star is set to be stuck in a chair for today's big final after picking up a freak injury while appearing in pantomime.
Shirley, 59, has told pals "the show must go on" and will be helped to her chair by Strictly staff.
A source told the Sun Online: "It’s a huge blow for Shirley and she’s massively disappointed - but she’s a total professional too so she will do everything possible to make sure viewers barely noticed.
“It was an accident while she was dancing which caused it, and she had to leave the stage for treatment immediately - she knew straight away it was going to cause her problems this weekend.
“It’s the biggest night of her year and she was really looking forward to dancing but now sadly that isn’t going to be possible - she’s going to be chair bound."
The Strictly head judge had been appearing as Mother Nature in Jack and the Beanstalk in Darlington when she injured her hamstring.
Posting about the injury to her followers on Instagram, Shirley said: "Absolutely devastated. An injury during the first act.
"Flipped over too fast and seem to have pulled my hamstring (hopefully that’s all).
"I had to limp off during the dance. With the help of the whole cast I managed to carry on the show, speaking only the lines and not dancing."
Strictly Come Dancing final is on Saturday, December 14 at 7:05pm on BBC One.
