Strictly Come Dancing contestant Nigel Harman has pulled out of the 2023 series of the reality show, with just a few hours to go until tonight's (December 2) live quarter-final.
Casualty star Nigel, who was paired with professional dancer Katya Jones, will not be able to compete tonight and has left the competition due to an injury, it's been confirmed.
"Unfortunately Nigel has sustained an injury which means he will be unable to perform in tonight's show and has had to withdraw from Strictly," a statement shared on the BBC show's social media accounts confirmed.
Related: Strictly's Nigel Harman opens up on friendship with Harry Potter star David Bradley
A caption on the official Strictly account's Instagram post added: "Unfortunately, Nigel Harman and Katya Jones have had to withdraw from the competition.
"We wish Nigel a speedy recovery and they both will be very much missed by our entire Strictly family."
What to Read Next
For Musicals Week, which has become a Strictly tradition around the quarter-finals stage in recent years, Katya and Nigel had been due to perform a Charleston to 'Step in Time' from Mary Poppins.
It's currently unclear whether this week's elimination will take place as planned, with only five pairings now left in the competition.
The duo appeared on Strictly's spin-off show It Takes Two only last night (Friday, December 1), to reflect on last week's rumba.
Katya said she felt "relief and joy and happiness" at making the quarter-finals with Nigel.
Nigel added: "It's brilliant for her, it's brilliant for us, it's Musicals Week as well, which is, y'know, for me is a great week – I love musicals. We feel just kind of really grateful to be here, really."
On escaping the dance-off after finishing second from bottom of the leaderboard last week, the former EastEnders star said: "That's two weeks in a row that you've been kind enough to save us!
"It's been kind of a bit overwhelming... that people are sitting there voting for us – because it's something that we don't get to see. So it's amazing to think [of it].
Related: Strictly's Layton Williams admits he "wasn't surprised" to be in bottom two
"But the leaderboard is so condensed, and there are so few of us – someone has to be at the bottom. So we don't mind!"
Teasing their planned Charleston routine prior to his injury, Nigel added: "We've got this banger this week.
"It's full-on showbiz, we've got four backing dancers, we've got all split levels, there's leaps and there's carries and we're flying around – I end up needing oxygen every time we do it!
"So it is full on. But it's exciting, isn't it?"
Strictly Come Dancing airs on Saturdays and Sundays on BBC One, while spin-off Strictly: It Takes Two airs on weeknights on BBC Two. Both shows are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
Tickets for Strictly's 2024 live arena tour are available now.
Interested in talking about Strictly Come Dancing? Visit our dedicated sub-forum
Kate (they/she) is a freelance writer, editor, digital editorial trainer and data technician who first joined Digital Spy as an overnight freelance sub-editor in January 2011, after studying a postgraduate diploma in journalism at Salford University while working part-time as a social researcher.
In July 2013, Kate joined the DS staff team as chief sub-editor and following six years as the site's managing editor, their role expanded to incorporate Hearst UK's entertainment portfolio (including Digital Spy and its sibling titles Best and Inside Soap) between late 2024 and early 2026.
Kate has worked as a writer and editor since 2006, with bylines syndicated across the Hearst network and at organisations including Metro. They started their career as a TV production runner for the BBC and contributed to various music websites, blogs and zines while based in Manchester.
During her time at DS, Kate has previously been a freelance sub-editor and chief sub-editor.
Kate's team at Digital Spy were proudly nominated in the Best Subbing/Production Team category at the BSME Talent Awards 2022. Over the years, she has contributed to coverage of many, many Prime Days and Black Friday/Cyber Monday, and was part of the team that launched the DS weekly TV newsletter in November 2019 – followed by the Top of the Shops e-commerce newsletter in May 2024.
Kate's screen passions include Taskmaster (their biggest career regret remains turning down the opportunity to visit the house), nature documentaries, and live sport (up there with the greatest of all soap operas although if asked to choose, it's Corrie… every time).
Her highlights while working at DS have included interviewing Stevie Nicks on the red carpet for her documentary In Your Dreams, sitting at a press roundtable with Formula 1 commentary icon Murray Walker, watching a life-sized LEGO car being driven around Silverstone, writing an album-by-album retrospective of Lady Gaga's genre-defying career for Living Legends, and raising awareness of receiving and understanding a late-in-life ADHD diagnosis through the lens of Bianca and Freddie's EastEnders storyline.
Upon remembering to log off the internet, Kate enjoys live theatre, dance and comedy, appreciating nature, baking (badly), tending a recently-rented allotment (equally badly) and pampering one very spoiled rescue cat named Jolene.
LinkedIn
