Strictly Come Dancing contestant John Nellis has revealed he was carrying an injury ahead of his live performance with Katya Jones on Saturday, October 3. The content creator and YouTube personality joined the BBC dance show this year, competing alongside the likes of Dani Dyer and Delta Goodrem.
He has managed to survive the opening elimination, which resulted in Chris Appleton and partner Amy Dowden departing following a dance-off with Jaime Winstone and Carlos Gu. The series' inaugural live programme had meanwhile witnessed John and Katya topping the leaderboard with 31 points for their Foxtrot.
Movie Week setback
Nevertheless, they dropped down the rankings during Movie Week, with their Titanic-inspired Couples Choice routine earning 23 points. He has now disclosed that before the performance, which featured multiple lifts, John sustained an injury.
Speaking on It Takes Two on Tuesday, October 6, with new presenter Ellie Taylor, John stated: "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.
Lift mishaps
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 conceded that the final of the three in his routine hadn't gone quite to plan, though host Ellie insisted the duo still looked "amazing" on the dancefloor.
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."
Support from cast and fans
Upon hearing about his lifts, John's fellow cast members confessed they were "so nervous" on his behalf, with Dani Dyer remarking: "I don't know how you weren't constantly thinking, 'I've got to do another one now!'"
John went on: "I think I was so juiced up on the adrenaline." He further explained: "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."
Following their routine, John posted on social media stating, "That was some party", and received an outpouring of encouragement from supporters and acquaintances. Ex-Strictly participant George Clarke commented, "Smashing it," while Shaun Wright-Phillips remarked: "What guy, amazing on and off the dance floor." One admirer observed: "This was fantastic. Loved it," while another contributed: "You were both amazing! ! Loved it so much, those lifts!!!" "Well done guys," someone else agreed.
Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday at 6.15pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
