Strictly Come Dancing reside: Johannes Radebe responds to quitting rumours as Amy Dowden changed
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Strictly Come Dancing is back on BBC One for week eight, but professional dancer Amy Dowden will not be returning for the remainder of the series.
Dowden, who was partnered with JLS singer JB Gill, was replaced by Lauren Oakley, after the former was rushed to hospital, having fallen ill during a live show.
The Welsh dancer, 34, had returned to competing in the BBC show for its 20th anniversary series following cancer treatment.
Dowden clarified that her “insufficiency stress fracture” had “nothing to do with any previous health scares”.
Meanwhile, the series has been plagued by rumours that fan-favourite Johannes Radebe is set to quit, after several outlets reported that his schedule for 2025 would mean he would be too busy to participate.
He is billed to star in Kinky Boots: The Musical for the first half of the year while he works on a film adaptation of his life story.
Radebe hit back at the claims, writing “I’m not going anywhere!” in a post on Instagram.
Last week, Sam Quek and Nikita Kuzmin were eliminated as they lost out to Radebe and Montell Douglas after placing in the bottom two following a public vote. Despite scoring lowest on the leaderboard, Pete Wicks and Jowitz Przystal survived another week.
This week, the stars will perform to a variety of songs, and will feature two Couple’s Choice dances by Przystal and Wicks, and Chris McCausland and his partner Dianne Buswell.
Strictly ‘to axe five professionals’ as BBC bosses ‘want fresh start’
According to The Sun, those at risk of being dropped are reportedly some of the show’s longest-standing pros, including Nadiya Bychkova, who joined the show in 2017, Neil Jones (2016), Karen Hauer (2012), Gorka Marquez (2016) and Katya Jones (2016).
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Strictly star Johannes Radebe denies rumours he is leaving dancing show
In a video uploaded to his Instagram on Thursday, the dancer shared a video of himself in a training studio singing, “I’m going nowhere…. It’s a lie.”
He then joked and danced with Douglas in rehearsal, telling the camera: “Why they tell lies about me?”
He wrote in the post’s caption: “I’m not going nowhere! The story isn’t true – I love @bbcstrictly and I want to do this beautiful show for as long as they want me – and the body will allow.”
Why isn’t Amy Dowden competing on Strictly Come Dancing and who is her replacement?
Ellie Muir reports:
The 34-year-old dancer was rushed to hospital as a “precaution” on 26 October, but it was later revealed she had sustained a stress fracture in her shin, which requires several weeks of rest.
Oakley, who came eighth when partnered with Channel 4 News presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy in the show’s previous season, did not have a partner this year. She joined the show in 2022.
“I’m absolutely gutted, I need to rest for a couple of weeks,” Dowden said on It Takes Two. “Hopefully I will be back dancing, hopefully in a group number by the end of the series. Fingers crossed.”
