Will Bayley's Strictly Come Dancing Future 'Hangs In Balance' After Injury Last Week

The Paralympic gold medallist is reportedly awaiting news on whether he can remain in this year's series.

Earlier this week, Strictly Come Dancing bosses confirmed that Will Bayley would be tackling a Waltz in this week’s live show, which suggested he was confirmed to be hitting the dance floor after a week off due to injury.

However, The Sun has reported that the Paralympian is not quite out of the woods just yet.

According to the tabloid, Will has one final consultation with a specialist today, which will determine whether he is able to remain in the competition for the rest of the series.

It Takes Two presenter Zoe Ball also confirmed Will was meeting with doctors today on her Radio 2 Breakfast Show on Wednesday morning.

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Janette Manrara and Will Bayley
BBC/Ray Burmiston

On Saturday, Will and his partner Janette Manrara were absent from the Halloween Week live show after he hurt his knee in rehearsals, with the pair being automatically put through to the next stage of the competition, as is standard procedure with Strictly.

Unfortunately, The Sun has claimed that Will’s injury has meant that he has not been able to rehearse so far this week, and with Strictly contestants having to put in a minimum of 12 hours of practise before they perform, they’ve said it’s unlikely he’ll be able to appear in Saturday’s show.

A BBC spokesperson declined to comment when contacted by HuffPost UK.

Describing his accident, he said: “I jumped off a table and as I landed I landed with straightened legs. I thought I broke my leg because I never felt anything like it before.

“To hear the words I absolutely can’t dance was just really gutting for me. But I need to recover now and come back even stronger next week.”

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Will is attended to by crew members after his accident
BBC

The Sun also suggested that former Lioness Alex Scott is still rehearsing with Kevin Clifton, as her regular professional partner Neil Jones is recovering from an injury of his own.

It’s also been reported that Mike Bushell’s partner Katya Jones was unable to rehearse this week, after sustaining a neck injury.

Find out how the stars get on in Saturday night’s Strictly live show, airing at 7pm on BBC One.