Strictly Come Dancing's Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman break silence on star's exit

Nick Knowles was forced to pull out of Saturday night's live show after sustaining a second injury - and Strictly Come Dancing hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman have spoken out about his exit

Strictly Come Dancing hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman have offered an explanation for Nick Knowles' abrupt withdrawal from the competition.

Popular TV personality Nick, 62, had to bow out of Saturday's live performance (October 5) following a new injury. The pair, consisting of Nick and his dance partner Luba Mushtuk, were set to bring the Charleston to life with Rain On The Roof from the Paddington 2 soundtrack in honour of Movie Week special.

Prior to this setback, Nick was already managing a shoulder complaint which necessitated the use of a sling after the season's inaugural live broadcast. However, on Friday (October 4), it emerged that the face of DIY SOS had encountered another mishap, injuring his knee during a dress run, which has since left him reliant on crutches.

The situation was promptly addressed during the Saturday night live show (October 5), with Tess explaining: "As you can see, Nick Knowles and his partner Luba are not here. In rehearsals yesterday, Nick sustained an injury and is not able to perform tonight."

Claudia provided further details: "As per rules of the competition, he will receive a bye into next week's show. Nick we are sending you love and wishing you a speedy recovery.", reports the Mirror.

Nick himself gave an account of the incident in an exclusive video message broadcasted on Strictly's It Takes Two on Friday (October 4), hosted by Janette Manara. Facing the camera, Nick shared: "So during our first dress rehearsal today, our run-through of the dance number on the stage, unfortunately, I damaged my knee and it's quite painful. So the physios have decided that I need to go for an MRI."

Luba announced, before adding: "Yeah, so unfortunately we'll not be dancing tomorrow but we really really hope that the knee will be better for the next week and yeah, we'll be back on the dance floor."

Discussing Nick's second injury, an insider previously revealed to The Sun: "It is such a devastating blow for him and he is being supported by the Strictly team. They are sending him for scans and are doing everything they can to make sure he is okay."

"Nick had to fight to make sure he could take part in the first live show after hurting his arm and shoulder and he did so well. This new injury has been a real blow and he is incredibly upset about it."

Nick had earlier explained his initial injury to his Instagram followers. He shared: "As you can see my arm is in a sling and that's because my car broke down at the side of the motorway. I had my little boy in the car, so I wanted to change the tyre as quickly as possible." He continued: "In the process of hurrying to get the wheel off, I managed to damage my shoulder and arm a little. I'm not sure how, but it's been quite painful."

Strictly Come Dancing continues on BBC One.

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