Strictly Come Dancing star John Nellis has disclosed a "worry" before his live performance with Katya Jones on Saturday, October 3. The content creator and YouTube sensation joined the BBC dance show this year, alongside stars such as Dani Dyer and Delta Goodrem.
He's managed to survive the first elimination so far, which witnessed Chris Appleton and partner Amy Dowden depart following a dance-off against Jaime Winstone and Carlos Gu. The opening live show of the series had seen John and Katya top the leaderboard with 31 points for their Foxtrot.
Injury before the routine
Nevertheless, they fell down the rankings during Movie Week, with their Titanic-inspired Couples Choice scoring 23 points. He has now disclosed that moments before the routine, which featured multiple lifts, John sustained an injury.
Speaking on It Takes Two on Tuesday, October 6, with new presenter Ellie Taylor, John said: "I could feel nothing other than my heartbeat. It was a good time, we just had a party. It lacked a bit of the technicality of the Foxtrot but the lifts were ambitious, I'd said earlier in the day, I didn't know if they'd all work, they kind of did... ish! I made it kind of look like they did."
"But actually, earlier in the day, in the dress rehearsal, I really tweaked my thumb. So I was a wee bit scared going into it that it was going to go at me. But I've seen the physio and we got through it so I'm happy, I won't be lifting her for a week or two anyway," reports Wales Online.
Jokes about the lifts
He then joked that he only "half-dropped" Katya, adding: "I played it off well, it kind of felt like a bit of a free hit, so that's why we took the bigger swings with the big lifts and just trying to have a bit of fun."
Discussing the lifts, John confessed the final one of the trio in his routine didn't go quite as smoothly as he'd hoped, though host Ellie maintained the duo still appeared "amazing" on the dance floor.
John continued: "The weird thing with the last one was that we nailed it all week and then once we got to the actual stage, I think being on that platform made me go a bit tighter than I had been in training."
"I was a wee bit worried about falling off the edge but got around twice, it's still quite impressive, she went down and I just... went down too! I didn't know what I was doing."
Fellow contestants react
Upon learning about his lifts, John's fellow contestants on It Takes Two revealed they were "so nervous" for him, with Dani Dyer remarking: "I don't know how you weren't constantly thinking, 'I've got to do another one now!'" John replied: "I think I was so juiced up on the adrenaline."
He went on: "It was almost like this preservation mode of like, I'm doing the first one, getting through it and then breathe, and then I know there's another one coming, and another one coming."
"In my head, I was like, I don't know if I can do all this in one run. If you did that in the gym on a random day you're probably fine. Doing it in front of the whole nation and the pressure of it all, I was a bit scared."
After their performance, John shared on social media: "That was some party", and was flooded with praise from supporters and celebrity pals alike. Ex-Strictly star George Clarke commented: "Smashing it," while Shaun Wright-Phillips gushed: "What guy, amazing on and off the dance floor."
One admirer meanwhile declared: "This was fantastic. Loved it," while another enthused: "You were both amazing! ! Loved it so much, those lifts!!!" "Well done guys," someone else chimed in.
Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday at 6.15pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
