The judge-turned-author has updated fans on the impact of Stefan Dennis’ unexpected departure from Strictly.

Anton Du Beke has issued a major Strictly update (Image: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)

Strictly Come Dancing judge Anton Du Beke has issued a huge update about the beloved BBC dance competition now that a second contestant has pulled out of the show due to an injury. At the start of the week, Aussie favourite Stefan Davis withdrew from the competition after he “tore his calf so significantly” that he struggled to make it through Saturday night’s performance (October 18).

The Neighbours star, who had been partnered up with Dianne Buswell, took a break from the show for one week to help recover from the injury, but after last week’s show, he pulled out of the series altogether due to the pain he suffered during the routine. Now, the 59-year-old judge has given fans an insight into what this will mean for the show.

During an appearance on This Morning on Wednesday (October 22), the dancer turned author revealed that due to the star’s exit, there will now only be “three dancers in the final this year.”

He confessed: “Well, I don’t know, I haven’t spoken to the producers. But I think we will probably end up with three in the final. So we will do that,” he confirmed.

Anton then shared: “We had a situation years ago, some people got injured and headed off, we ended up with two in the final. We had all this time to fill. It was sort of hilarious. I was dancing at the time, but I wasn’t in the final. I remember they would do the dance, come up to Tess [Daly], say thanks very much, then off they go to get changed. They had around five dances each.”

The professional dancer added that Stefan is going to “try his best to make it to the final” for the group number, but it entirely depends on his recovery. It didn’t take long before viewers flocked to X – formerly known as Twitter – to share their surprise online.

Following Stefan’s exit, there will only be three couples who will make it to the live final (Image: BBC)

One user penned: “Can’t they just do a non-elimination week to avoid a three-person final?” as a second added: “Damn. The universe really is insisting on this series being a three-couple final.” Meanwhile a third echoed: “Petition for everyone to have a bye this week so we get our four-person final.”

Another argued: “If that means it’s a three-person final now, Lewis [Cope] and Amber [Davies] will take up two of those spots as the judges won’t send them home. That leaves only one spot for a non-trained dancer.”

But Stefan isn’t the only star who was forced to pull out of the show due to an injury. At the start of the series, Dani Dyer also pulled out of the competition due to an injury, which landed her in hospital.

Dani revealed at the time: “I had a fall in rehearsals and landed funny. I thought I had 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.” Fans will have to stay tuned to see which three couples will make it through to the live finals.

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