AJ Odudu has revealed she has been forced to cancel training due to her injured foot just days away from the Strictly Come Dancing final.
The 33-year-old confessed on Wednesday that she had torn a ligament in her foot which has left her unable to walk without the use of crutches.
But as the countdown to the final of the BBC dance competition continues, the Northern lass has opened up about the extent that her injury has derailed her vital ballroom training.
With the support of her friend and fellow TV presenter Rylan Clark, a tearful AJ has confessed how she and her dance partner Kai Widdrington remain hopeful that they can perform on Saturday night.
In an exclusive interview with the Daily Star and other publication, the brunette beauty has explained the extent to the damage she has done to her foot.
She said: “I’ve hurt the ligament in my arch and I can’t put any weight on my foot at all.
“So, we’ve missed a lot of training because I can’t stand up. I’m on crutches and I’m doing everything I can to try and be there on Saturday night.
“It’s just really frustrating actually because the two dances that we are repeating from the series, we’ve not performed them in weeks and weeks.”
In the final showdown, each couple have been tasked with performing three routines for the judges: one previous routine that the judges have picked, one previous routine that the couple have picked and one epic show dance.
The finalists will have just one week to perfect all three performances before they take to the stage on Saturday night in an effort to bring home the glitterball trophy.
AJ added: “So, without giving too much away, they are energy inducing dances. On Monday we were optimistic because we were like, ‘Do you know what? The steps are there still but we’ve just got to build up the stamina to give it socks on Saturday night’.
(Image: ITV)
“And then, as Kai mentioned, our show dance – it’s a beautiful, epic show dance that we have marked though so I know where I’m meant to be and know what I’m meant to be doing.
“But it’s one of those things that you need the practice in order to give it everything essentially,” she admitted nervously.
“So, I am at this moment in time very frustrated and upset, but again, our main focus is my foot at the moment and just making sure that we can make it on Saturday.”
It was at this point that the TV presenter started to become overwhelmed with emotion as the highly-anticipated final looms ever closer.
Luckily, her close friend and fellow presenter Rylan was there to comfort her as he reassured her that he has every faith she will be able to perform over the weekend.
The It Takes Two host said: “This is what it’s all about and if that means that you can’t do nothing until 9pm on a Friday night then you don’t do nothing until 9pm on a Friday night.
“But whatever happens, we really want to see you on that floor and I know full well that this isn’t the way we want you to go out.
“So however long it takes, even if you don’t rehearse until Saturday morning, I know you and I know how well she’s been doing in training Kai, she picked things up so quickly.
“I’ve known you for seven, eight years now, we used to work on Big Brother together and when I found out you were doing the show, I just knew you would absolutely smash it because I mean, your legs are longer than the M25.
“You can do this, just be careful and rest it,” he reassured her.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
