Dani Dyer opens up about 'pure devastation' she felt when forced to quit Strictly

Dani Dyer has opened up about the "pure devastation" of fracturing her ankle and being forced to pull out of Strictly Come Dancing. The Love Island winner revealed how the horrible turn of events was "really testing" her mental health.

Speaking on her podcast, Live and Let Dyers, Dani emotionally recalled the moment when she realised her Strictly journey was over. "The doctor said to me, If I continue dancing on this foot, it's not going to heal, it's going to get worse and worse and worse.

"It's so hard because I was just having the best time of my life. I was so happy, I was so excited. The photoshoots, they're the fun part, but I got my partner, I got Nikita," she revealed.

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Dani, 29, fractured her ankle in a rehearsal after the launch show, so she and partner Nikita Kuzmin were both affected when she had to pull out. "We were all just so devastated about it, and I think because everyone was so devastated about it, it made it really hard for me, do you know what I mean?"

She added that she couldn't leave the house because she was so sad and likely to cry: "Everyone around me was pure devastation, and that’s why I couldn’t leave the house, because I knew if someone said to me 'are you okay Dani' I’d just cry. And everyone is so kind and lovely and I could probably stand in the street and cry. But for me mentally, it’s just been really testing my mental health."

The podcast is co-hosted by Dani's father, Danny Dyer. He offered her some advice. "What you’ve got to do is, which you have, is pull up them big girl knickers, and we f****** get on with it, because up to this point it’s been an incredible year. You’ve done some amazing stuff.” Dani's "incredible year" has included getting married to West Ham footballer Jarrod Bowen in May.

"We've really really bonded over this injury because Jarrod can actually... he gets it," Dani revealed. "With your feet, and sending me for scans, he really wants my foot to heal in the correct way."

If it does, there's potential for Dani to return to Strictly next year. When Jamie Laing had to pull out before the live show due to injury, he was able to join the line-up for the next series. Dani has said this is something she wants.

"I would love to come back. I would absolutely love to come back. Listen it’s a year away, but my door is open. My door is open, if they want their door to be open, then I’ll walk through their door.”

In the meantime, Nikita has been partnered with another Love Island winner, Amber Davies. With only 24 hours to rehearse, Amber and Nikita pulled together a waltz that scored 27 and put them third on the leaderboard.

There was some controversy about Amber joining the line-up as she has extensive experience in dance, as she performs on the West End in musicals such as The Great Gatsby. She, alongside Emmerdale's Lewis Cope, who used to compete in hip hop competitions, have come under fire as fans fear this will make it harder for other celebs to reach the final.

Live And Let Dyers is available to listen to now on Global Player, or wherever you get your podcasts

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