Ugo Monye said he is “looking forward to Saturday night” after recovering from an injury that forced him to miss last week’s Strictly Come Dancing.
The former rugby player had to seek treatment for an historic back injury last week, and has given an update on his condition ahead of his return to the dancefloor this weekend.
This Saturday will see Ugo and professional dance partner Oti Mabuse performing the notoriously challenging rumba to Leave The Door Open by Bruno Mars, and Anderson .Paak, aka Silk Sonic.
Speaking on Tuesday’s It Takes Two, Ugo said: “I had a couple of injections into my spine on Friday, had a couple of days’ rest and Oti’s looked after me like a trooper this week.
“I have never had to do this stuff that I have had to do over the last four weeks, it’s just triggered it,” he said.
Ugo said he is “trying to get a balance between doing enough and not allowing my back to flare up, which is so frustrating because the lines are so blurred”.
“I want to keep pushing, pushing, pushing, but I also don’t want to push too far whereby I can’t dance on Saturday,” he said.
Ugo also thanked the production team for “that weekend of grace to get myself back fit”.
Strictly rules state that contestants are able to miss one week of the competition due to injury, health or personal reasons, and are given a “bye” to the following week.
Tom Fletcher was previously given a one-week bye earlier in the series when he and partner Amy Dowden both contracted Covid-19.
Last week also saw Robert Webb withdraw from the competition altogether due to health concerns.
Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday at 7.05pm on BBC One.