'Strictly': Danny John-Jules reveals he collapsed during intense rehearsals

Strictly Come Dancing star Danny John-Jules revealed that he collapsed during his jive rehearsals last week.

The 58-year-old Red Dwarf actor was awarded the first ten out of ten mark on Saturday night’s episode. But John-Jules admitted that the intense rehearsals for his impressive jive routine caused him to collapse.

Speaking to Zoe Ball on It Takes Two he said he fainted during rehearsals just a day before he gave his show-stopping performance.

“It’s cardio, fitness. I haven’t moved like that since a long time. You worry about slowing down and if you slow down it’s very obvious and a bit of a no-no.

“I did collapse after the second run, the tech run on Friday. The floor manager looked down at me looking up at the ceiling and said: ‘Do you want to do another one?” John-Jules said.

He received a standing ovation from the audience and judges – apart from judge Craig Revel Harwood – for his energetic performance and scored an incredible 37 out of 40 points.

John-Jules said it took him a day to realise how well his routine went down with the public.

“It was all a blur. When I finished, I looked at Amy and only then I realised it had been good.

“I was still in a daze when I got to the judges and it didn’t sink in until a day later when all the messages started coming in from social media,” he said.

The actor who is best known for playing Cat in Red Dwarf and Dwayne Myers in Death in Paradise received some criticism for participating in Strictly because he was a professional dance background.

However, speaking to us at a Strictly event he was quick to rubbish the claims.

“Mate that ain’t got nothing to do with nothing! Granny Smith and Granny Jones sitting there and having a cup of earl grey with the children – the last thing they are going to be talking about is who has dancing experience,” he said.

Strictly Come Dancing returns on BBC One Saturday at 6.50pm.

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