Strictly’s Janette Manrara has revealed she was terrified that she wouldn’t dance again after a knee injury.
The star had to undergo surgery on her left leg for a torn meniscus in 2011, when she was touring America in a live show, and said she had “intense worry and fear” about whether she would be able to dance the same after the op.
She told the Mirror that she initially kept dancing despite her injury, after a doctor told her that, although it was “risky”, she could do a few more shows.
But she said it was so “painful” that she had to take painkillers throughout each day.
(Image: BBC/Guy Levy)
Once she had finished performing on the tour, Janette went in for her operation.
While the Florida-born star said she received brilliant care, she admitted it was a worrying time because her body is how she makes her living.
“So the day I came out of hospital was really scary,” said the star.
“My knee and my whole leg were so swollen, I couldn’t walk on it or even put weight on it. There was this intense worry and fear, ‘Oh my God, am I ever going to be able to dance the same again?'”
(Image: Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)
However, Janette did what the doctors told her to do when it came to her recovery and exercises.
It wasn’t long before she was back up and training and her dance career has gone from strength to strength.
In 2013 she became one of the professional dancers on Strictly, which has made her a big name in the UK.
And last year it was confirmed that she would be the new presenter on the BBC ballroom contest’s spin-off show, It Takes Two.
(Image: BBC/Ray Burmiston)
Janette, who is married to fellow Strictly star Aljaz Skorjanec, took over the role from Zoe Ball, who announced last year that she was stepping down.
Zoe had been doing the series for a decade and said that although she had loved it, it was “time now for some new cha cha challenges”.
Meanwhile, this year, Aljaz announced he was leaving Strictly too.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
