Nigel Harman is poised to return to Strictly Come Dancing to perform in the grand finale following his shock exit.
After sustaining an injury, the actor was forced to withdraw from the BBC competition with professional dancer Katya Jones last week.
Speaking on Saturday night’s show, he shared: ‘I hurt my rib and it’s extremely painful,’ adding that he was ‘a little bit high on medications as well’.
‘I hope you’ve got something you can treasure forever,’ Katya said as she grieved at the awful news.
A BBC representative stated at the time, ‘Unfortunately, Nigel has received an injury, which means he is unable to perform in tonight’s broadcast and has had to withdraw from Strictly.’
While Nigel, 50, is no longer in contention for the Glitterball Trophy, viewers will not see him for the final time on the show.
The EastEnders star is set to attend the final, which will be held on Saturday, December 16, following this week’s semi-final with the four remaining couples.
In a statement, a BBC spokesperson said: ‘It is always sad when a contestant leaves the show, particularly when an injury is sustained.
‘Nigel will be well missed by those who have worked alongside him on the show and everyone wishes him the very best and looks forward to seeing him at the final on Saturday 16th December.’
A source previously gave their insight into what Nigel was like behind the scenes on Strictly, saying that he ‘takes himself very seriously as a performer and throws himself heart and soul into things’.
Who’s in the semi-final of Strictly 2023?
The four remaining couples on Strictly Come Dancing 2023 are…
- Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin
- Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola
- Bobby Brazier and Dianne Buswell
- Annabel Croft and Johannes Radebe
‘So obviously he’s very emotional if things don’t go as he hoped. That often means that he can be like a bear with a sore head backstage,’ they told The Sun.
‘Viewers got a glimpse of that when he received disappointing scores for their Quickstep in Blackpool.’
The Strictly team and professional dancers, according to the source, “are like a close family, and the celebrities are welcome into that.”
‘But if someone upsets that long-standing dynamic it can create bad feeling,’ they stated.
‘Despite this everyone on the show also felt huge sympathy for Nigel having to leave the competition under such difficult circumstances.’
Strictly Come Dancing returns on Saturday at 7.35pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.