Strictly 2023’s gruesome injuries: slashed leg, ‘broken toes’ and being left unable to dance

Over 20 years in, injuries are as much of a part of Strictly Come Dancing as the sequins, high heels and Craig Revel Horwood being unjustly mean. But 2023 appears to be hitting the celebrities particularly hard.

There have been freakish accidents, unlucky blunders, the usual array of grisly blisters and even a leg infection as many of the Strictly stars are dancing through the pain to entertain fans and impress the judges.

Only weeks into the competition, here are some of the most gruesome ones from this year so far.

Angela Rippon slashes her leg

Angela Rippon, 79, suffered a bloody mishap just minutes before she was supposed to appear on live TV.

By accident, the broadcaster cut herself with the heel of her shoe while backstage. Ouch!

Detailing the ordeal, she wrote in her Strictly diary for The Telegraph: "With just over five minutes to go, Kai and I were doing a last-minute revision of our steps, when my foot stuck on a sticky patch on the floor.

"When I looked down, my leg was bleeding from a cut on my right shin. The razor-sharp edge of my high-heeled dance shoe had sliced off a bit of flesh while I was doing a twisting manoeuvre."

Ellie Leach 'breaking Vito's toes'

Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola had a passionate week on the dancefloor and received glowing remarks from the judges for their paso doble.

Revel Horwood had even said the former Coronation Street actor was "on fire" with her sizzling performance.

But it seems there is no gains without any pain as the dancing duo revealed the injuries Coppola had suffered as a result.

Following their dance, Leach detailed that they had suffered through a few issues in training: "Vito kept saying you need to be strong and I think at some point I was a little too strong and broke a few of his toes."

Then she accidentally hit her professional dancing partner in the face.

Nigel Harman kicked Katya

While performing a foxtrot, former EastEnders star Nigel Harman and his professional partner Katya Jones had a bit of mishap on the dancefloor.

It went mostly unnoticed by fans watching at home but the judges noticed that Harman accidentally kicked Jones' leg during their routine.

Harmon admitted his struggles to Claudia Winkleman afterwards saying: "I kicked Katya and then made up the steps for a bit."

Nigel Harman 'left unable to dance'

As revealed by Eddie Kandi, Harman was "unable to dance" just hours before he was set to don a Batman costume for Movies Week.

Detailing the physical strain the celebrities put themselves through, Kandi said: "Nigel Harman is my roommate, and he literally couldn’t dance a couple of hours before that. People have to understand the effort that he put through."

Amanda Abbington's blood blister

Actor Amanda Abbington showed the reality of dancing in heels with a gruesome picture on social media of her blood blister.

Alongside the photo, she wrote: "Dancing in heels, when you absolutely aren’t a dancer, is clearly a blister minefield but, moreover, very much a young man’s game…

"However, onwards. Back tomorrow for more shenanigans!"

Adam Thomas' Arthiritis battles

Adam Thomas was diagnosed with arthiritis just days after being announced as a contestant on the series but the Waterloo Road actor has willed himself on to stay on the show.

Speaking about the pain his body is in while training, he said: "As much as I act like a kid, my body is telling another story…

"I've been in a lot of pain since January. It started with my knees and then travelled to my wrists, fingers and now ankles and toes."

Jody Cundy's infection

Paralympian Jody Cundy very nearly didn't make it to the live shows after contracting a serious infection in his leg while learning the Viennese Waltz.

The infection was caused by a build up of sweat between his body and prosthetic leg leaving him unable to wear the prosthetic for a while.

Detailing the injury, he said: "When it was bad, and I couldn’t put my leg on, there was worries that I probably wouldn’t be able to dance or whatever, and wasn’t really sure where we went from there."

Zara McDermott's injured foot

Love Island star Zara McDermott posted a graphic picture of the injury to her big toe after competing in the first week of Strictly Come Dancing.

Alongside the image of her toe, she joked on Instagram: "I put this on my close friends but tbh I think the world needs to see this. Half my toe has come off tbh".

Nancy Xu's Cut Ear

During the first live show, professional dancer Nancy Xu's ear was seen to be bleeding with the fluid dripping down her neck while she and partner Les Dennis received feedback from the judges after their first dance.

It turned out there had been an issue with her earring and initially Xu hadn't noticed.

She said on It Takes Two: "I didn’t even feel it!"

Bobby Brazier's blisters

EastEnders star Bobby Brazier received his first set of blisters during a gruelling training session ahead of the weekend live shows.

His professional partner Dianne Buswell shared the photograph of the injury on Instagram. She joked: "Congrats Bobby on your first set of blisters."

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