Strictly Come Dancing's George Clarke has opened up about the injury he sustained during last week's rehearsals, explaining why he chose to keep it a secret.
George and his professional partner Alexis Warr danced the Paso doble last week scoring 30 points from the judges.
Speaking on his Useless Hotline Podcast alongside Alexis, George revealed that he had been to see a physiotherapist four times ahead of their live performance after injuring his back.
George said: "I didn't want it to be a thing on the night. That's why they asked in the VT, they were like, 'Do you want to mention your back?' and I said, 'I don't want it to be a thing.'
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"I had a pinched nerve all week in my back. I had acupuncture half way through the week. I went to physio four times."
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Explaining how he injured himself, George said it was all down to a dodgy handstand.
"I was like, 'I'll throw in a handstand or something'," he explained. "I like doing a handstand, if I keep my legs together I'd probably be better at it but it doesn't feel fun when you do it that way.
"I did that and got up and went, 'My back hurts a little bit actually. Ah s**t, I've got a little twinge in there somehow. I'll try to carry on'."
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Speaking about how he had to halt rehearsals, George added: "It would get to the point where I'm getting it then I had to sit down because my back was hurting."
Last week saw The Apprentice star Thomas Skinner and his dance partner Amy Dowden become the first couple to be voted off the show following a dance-off with Chris Robshaw and Nadiya Bychkova.
This weekend will see the couples tackle Movie Week, performing to songs from silver screen classics.
Strictly Come Dancing airs on Saturdays 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.
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After graduating with a degree in history from Queen Mary University, London, she studied journalism at Birkbeck University.
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