Strictly Come Dancing pro Janette Manrara has shared what she said to Will Bayley after his injury claims.
The professional dancer, who has also hosted spin-off It Takes Two, found herself dragged into the ongoing Strictly scandal recently. Her former celebrity partner Will had complained he was left with life-changing injuries after a jump went wrong.
The Paralympian competed on the show in 2019 and had been partnered with Janette, who he claimed called the jump “rubbish”. His complaint was largely aimed at Strictly rather than Janette, but she was named in what he said.
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Now, Janette has revealed how she reacted. “I messaged him because we are really good friends,” she said.
(Image: Mike Marsland/WireImage)
“He immediately said, ‘I’m so sorry, it’s not meant to look like that. I don’t want to you to feel like it’s you.”
Janette added to The Sun she had simple replied: “It’s ok.” She explained she really enjoyed dancing with Will and their Couple’s Choice dance made her cry on the show.
The mum-of-one admitted she wasn’t too shocked to hear of Will’s claims, though. She said: “I was shocked, because you just never want to hear that.
(Image: BBC/Guy Levy)
“But it is a dance show, it gets physical and it is a competition. There is intensity that sometimes happens in the rehearsal rooms.”
However, she said all of the pushing from the professional should be “in a positive way”.
Will had previously claimed that Janette ignored his concerns. He was born with a condition which affects his limbs, and has no ankles.
He explained that he was worried about a particular jump from height and told show bosses he wouldn’t be able to do it.
(Image: BBC)
“Everyone assured me I would be fine,” he told The Sun. “I didn’t want to do the jump, and my coach said before, ‘He can’t do jumps.’
“We practiced a few times and I was really careful. But then Janette said my jump was ‘rubbish’ and I needed to smile more and go for it and show a bit of passion.”
However he landed and immediately knew something was wrong after hearing his leg “crack”. Will was left depressed and bed-ridden after the incident.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
