Another Strictly Come Dancing star at risk of withdrawal due to ‘dislocated rib’

After La Voix was sadly forced to pull out of this year’s Strictly Come Dancing due to injury, another star’s future on the BBC show now appears to be in jeopardy.

According to Alex Kingston’s daughter, in Blackpool at the Tower Ballroom on Saturday evening the 62-year-old actress performed with a ‘dislocated rib’.

Commenting on a social media post showing Alex and Johannes Rabede’s couple’s choice dance from the weekend, her daughter Salome Violetta Haertel, 24, said: ‘So so proud!!! Slayed on the dance floor, dislocated rib and all!!!’

Fans have expressed their concern at the news, with one Strictly viewer commenting that the contestants are ‘dropping like flies’ this year.

‘Hope she’s okay. This year’s cast is all dropping like flies,’ said AbaloneDefiant5413 on Reddit.

Meanwhile, another fan thought they noticed Alex wincing in pain during the dance, which scored 35 points and high praise from judges.

‘If you watch closely you see her grab at her chest towards the end of the dance, I first thought uh oh has she had a wardrobe malfunction but seeing this made me realise what it was,’ wrote barbieshell75, while many called this series ‘cursed’.

‘Worried for Alex hope she recovers! This series is actually cursed I wonder if we do end up with a 2 person final after all…’ said Jazzlike-Hall7987, while Smilingtribute said: ‘Honestly if she drops out. This series is cursed.’

Just yesterday it was announced La Voix would have to pull out of the competition, having swerved the Blackpool performances due to a painful foot injury.

‘You may have heard, La Voix sustained an injury, meaning that she can’t dance in Blackpool tonight,’ Tess began during Saturday’s show, explaining: ‘Following further advice from our medical team, we can now confirm she has very sadly had to withdraw from the competition.’

‘I’m absolutely devastated to withdraw from Strictly Come Dancing,’ the RuPaul’s Drag Race star wrote on social media yesterday.

‘This isn’t the glittering exit I ever imagined, and it breaks my heart to feel like I’m letting people down. My spirit wanted to keep dancing but my foot has other ideas!

Before La Voix, Neighbours actor Stefan Dennis and Dianne Buswell – who made history as Strictly’s first pregnant professional – withdrew from the competition after the actor injured his calf.

‘I can’t tell you how devastated I am to have to leave so prematurely, especially as there has been, and still is, so much love and support for both Dianne and myself,’ he said of the exit.

The first shock drop out of the series came before the first episode had even aired, when former Love Island star Dani Dyer announced her ‘heartbreak’ to bow out of the show having fractured her ankle in rehearsals.

Earlier this series, Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly announced they were stepping back from their long-held presenting roles on the show.

Over recent months and years the BBC show has been hit with a number of scandals, including bullying claims, drug use allegations, and now it’s been revealed two stars face rape allegations.

Bosses were said to be considering pausing the show in the wake of a star’s arrest on suspicion of raping a woman after a BBC event, which was revealed last week.

Despite hiatus rumours, sources insisted to the Daily Mail that the show will go ahead in 2026, revealing: ‘It’s already been commissioned for 2026. And after that, there is no way it is going anywhere.’

It comes just three months after another unnamed male star was arrested on suspicion of rape. Police said a man was arrested in August on suspicion of rape and for possessing ‘non-consensual intimate image abuse’. 

The scandal is said to have left the BBC senior bosses ‘divided’ between those adamant the show must go on and others considering a pause in 2026.

This would reportedly allow the show to ‘bolster’ safeguarding measures and also revamp the format.

An insider at the BBC has told The Sun that it is felt that Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman’s shock exit from the show could offer producers an opportunity to put Strictly on hiatus.

They said: ‘It’s frankly beyond embarrassing. The feeling among many is, we limp through the rest of the series, try and give Tess and Claudia a proper send off then use the new hosts as a credible reason to reset.

‘The rot runs so deep this needs a proper fix. The feeling at Broadcasting House is to take the new chapter as an excuse to do that.’

It comes amid wider scandals in the BBC – from MasterChef to Huw Edwards – which were brought to former Director General Tim Davie, who warned MPs in September this year more were yet to be unearthed.

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