Inside Strictly Come Dancing’s ‘cursed season’ as major injuries spark withdrawal fears

Strictly Come Dancing 2025 is fast approaching its grand finale of what some viewers and fans are describing as a ‘cursed’ season of the BBC show.

No celebrity was eliminated after the annual Blackpool extravaganza following the injury to La Voix, which forced her out of the competition.

There are six participants remaining, with the big final slated for December 20 – but fans are worried that the final could be contested by just two celebrities.

This 23rd edition of Strictly has been marred by injuries to its stars almost from day one, with two dropouts coming before the competition had started.

Sadly, the list of casualties has only grown since then, with two more dropouts now confirmed and a third withdrawal speculated following Saturday’s show in Blackpool.

Here’s every injury and health issue endured by the celebrities who have entered this ‘cursed’ year for Strictly Come Dancing.

Kristian Nairn

TV fans were delighted when Northern Irish actor and DJ Kristian Nairn was announced as a contestant for this year’s Strictly Come Dancing.

The 6’10” small-screen star is best known for playing beloved giant Hodor in 23 episodes of the epic American fantasy series Game of Thrones.

However, less than a week after being announced as a contestant, it was revealed that Kristian had been advised by doctors not to take part, owing to health issues.

He said: ‘Sadly, I’m having to withdraw from this year’s show. There’s been such a response, I definitely want to share why.

‘Like so many people at the minute, I’ve been dealing with a high level of stress and a little bit of grief… I’ve always been my mother’s son and I’ve always powered through things like this in the past.’

He added that mental issues he’d been dealing with had begun to ‘manifest physically’ which caused a ‘spike in my vitals as sort of an area of concern.’

Kristian was replaced by Emmerdale actor Lewis Cope, who now looks set to reach the final after impressing the judges with his dancing skills despite being a late entrant.

Dani Dyer

To add to the injury woes at the start of this year’s Strictly competition, TV personality and actress Dani Dyer was also forced to pull out despite appearing in the live launch show.

However, in a statement, the 29-year-old revealed that a bad fall during rehearsals – with her professional dancer partner Nikita Kuzmin – resulted in her having to withdraw.

What she thought was just a bad sprain turned out to be a fracture, and Welsh Love Island star Amber Davies was drafted in the the last minute as a replacement.

Dani said: ‘I had a fall on Friday in rehearsals and landed funny. I thought I’d rolled my foot but it swelled up badly over the weekend and after an MRI scan yesterday, it turns out I have fractured my ankle.

‘Apparently doing the quickstep on a fracture is not advisable, and the doctors have said I am not allowed to dance, so I’ve had to pull out of the show. To say I’m heartbroken is the biggest understatement.’

She continued: ‘I am so going to miss dancing with Nikita but will of course be watching closely and cheering all the couples on.’

Stefan Dennis

Things went from bad to worse during the early weeks of the competition when Neighbours actor Stefan Dennis was also forced to withdraw due to injury.

Stefan was partnered with fellow Australian Dianne Buswell and looked to be making steady progress initially but had to sit out week three due to illness.

Competition rules meant that they were granted a bye into the following week’s episode, but they still faced a race against time to be prepared for their return.

The couple did take to the floor again in week four, but it was revealed afterwards that Stefan had torn his calf muscle during their Charleston to Dance Monkey.

This meant the two had to withdraw from the competition, with Stefan becoming the third big name to have to stand aside due to injury or illness.

However, Stefan was unable to return home to Australia because his calf injury left him at risk of developing deep-vein thrombosis on the long-haul flight Down Under.

‘I can’t fly for another two weeks because of the risk of deep vein thrombosis, which my wife is pretty upset about. I just feel like I’ve let everyone down.’

La Voix

For a few weeks, this year’s Strictly Come Dancing contest looked to have had the last of its injuries, but then La Voix came down with a bone bruise in the week leading up to Blackpool.

The drag act and TV star, 45, whose real name is Chris Dennis, bounced back from being given a 2/10 by Shirley Ballas to put her name back in contention for the latter stages.

But in the week leading up to the Blackpool extravaganza, La Voix and her partner, Aljaz Skorjaneic, revealed they wouldn’t be taking to the sprung dancefloor.

And then during the Blackpool live show, it was confirmed that La Voix would sadly be dropping out of the competition altogether following a bone bruise.

Host Tess Daly confirmed: ‘La Voix sustained an injury, meaning that she can’t dance in Blackpool tonight. Following further advice… we can now confirm she has very sadly had to withdraw from the competition.’

After leaving the competition, Aljaz said he had made ‘two friends for life’, referencing both Chris and his drag persona, La Voix.

Alex Kingston

Following the live show at Blackpool, Strictly fans were given yet another scare when Alex Kingston’s daughter claimed the Doctor Who star had ‘danced with a dislocated rib’.

Commenting on a social media post showing Alex, 62, and Johannes Rabede’s couple’s choice, Salome Violetta Haertel, 24, said: ‘So so proud! Slayed on the dance floor, dislocated rib and all!’

Meanwhile, another viewer thought they spotted Alex wincing in pain during the dance, which scored her and Johannes Radebe 35 points and got them high praise from judges.

‘If you watch closely you see her grab at her chest towards the end of the dance… seeing this made me realise what it was,’ wrote barbieshell75, while many others called this series ‘cursed’.

Following Sunday night’s episode – which did not include results, as this week’s elimination was cancelled following La Voix’s withdrawal – Alex took to Instagram to address rumours she could be dropping out.

‘I just want to assure everyone that I am completely fine,’ she began in a statement. It is a minor injury – it’s all part and parcel of dancing at these levels.’

Watch Strictly Come Dancing on Saturday, November 29, on BBC One, 6.35pm.

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