Strictly Come Dancing star Tony Adams has given his first interview since making the decision to withdraw from the show over the weekend.
Following his performance in Saturday night’s live show, the football legend wound up in the bottom two for the first time, alongside radio presenter Tyler West.
However, it was then revealed that he would be unable to perform in the dance-off due to an injury, and had decided not to continue in the competition.
Asked about what led to his exit during an appearance on Monday’s edition of It Takes Two, Tony shared that his injury actually came about earlier in the week, but he had decided to persevere after some encouragement from his wife.
“It’s been getting tough for the last couple of weeks,” the former Arsenal star explained.
“I had a little bit of a hammy last week and I went out there and danced. And then on Thursday I pointed my toe down, [there was a] bit of retraction and [I] went ‘oof’.
“We didn’t do anything on Friday and then they gave me the choice – they were very professional the BBC, the physio was first class. They said, ‘it’s your decision Tony, do you want to go for it?’. My wife said, ‘my mum’s coming, you’ve got to dance!’. I looked into her eyes and she went ‘Come on!’.”
Asked about his Strictly experience, Tony told host Rylan Clark: “It’s been amazing, mate. Coming on here every week and chatting to you guys has been really fun. I’ve loved this part, more than the dancing! I can do a lot of talking!
“No it’s been incredible. I came into the show with one message – to get the awareness of mental health and addiction out there. 26 years ago I should have been dead, I didn’t want to be on the planet, and now I’m dancing on a show!”
After their departure aired on Sunday night, Tony’s professional partner Katya Jones shared a heartfelt statement celebrating his Strictly journey.
Throughout their time in the competition, Tony and Katya made no secret of the fact that it hasn’t always been smooth sailing between the two of them behind the scenes.
Tony previously revealed Katya gave him an almighty telling off before one recent performance, with the pair later speaking out after they were spotted in a tense moment during one Strictly live show.
Strictly Come Dancing returns on Saturday night on BBC One.