Stefan Dennis’ wife reveals ‘frantic’ Strictly call from ER after pulling out due to mystery illness
Stefan Dennis and Dianne Buswell will be back on Strictly after disappearing for Movie Week. It was announced on Friday that the all-Aussie pair, Dianne and Neighbours legend, Stefan, wouldn’t be performing on Saturday due to an unexplained illness. Announcing the news, the official Instagram account for Strictly Come Dancing shared a post which read: “Due to illness over the past few days, Stefan Dennis has been advised by doctors to rest, and as a result, he will not dance this weekend. In line with the rules of Strictly, Stefan and Dianne will receive a bye through to next week when they will hopefully be allowed to dance again.”
However, Dianne and Stefan have revealed they’re once again back in rehearsals and ready to tackle the next dance. “I just wanna say thank you very much for all your support and well wishes while I was away last week,” Dennis said in the video. “We’re back in the training room, and if all goes well – which it will! – I’m gonna be back on the floor with the lovely Dianne this Saturday. Looking forward to it!”
Stefan revealed they’re both rehearsing to perform a Charleston and joked that he can “finally get to use my basketball hands”. Following his injury, the soap veteran’s wife of 25 years, Gail Dennis, posted a sweet tribute to Stefan on her Instagram. Posting a black and white picture of the two, she recalled how she received a frantic phone call about the news of his illness that prompted him to pull out of the performance. She also revealed she received a similar frantic call last year while he was still on Neighbours.
“Thankfully, he will be ok but I know he will be so sad and extremely disappointed that he can’t perform this week on @bbcstrictly … but believe me these two moments have been the only things that have kept him from going to work! He is such a super trouper. So please rest up darling, your body is shouting at you again. Make sure you listen!” Stefan, 66, was the longest-serving cast member on Neighbours. He is best known for playing the scheming businessman, Paul Robinson on the hit soap opera. Stefan joined Strictly this year as one of several celebrity contestants from abroad.
Strictly injuries
Stefan’s illness is hardly the first medical issue in this year’s Strictly competition. In early October, YouTuber and contestant George Clarke revealed he’d injured his back during rehearsals. The 25-year-old, who is paired with Alexis Warr, revealed that he had danced with a pinched nerve. “I didn’t want it to be a thing on the night,” he said on his The Useless Hotline Podcast. “That’s why they asked in the VT, they were like, ‘Do you want to mention your back?’ and I said, ‘I don’t want it to be a thing.’ I had a pinched nerve all week in my back. I had acupuncture halfway through the week. I went to physio four times.”
Stefan and Dianne took to Instagram to update Strictly fans that they’re back in the rehearsal studios after last week’s misadventure
George admitted that it was a handstand gone wrong that caused the injury. “I was like, ‘I’ll throw in a handstand or something.’ I like doing a handstand, if I keep my legs together I’d probably be better at it but it doesn’t feel fun when you do it that way,” he said. “I did that and got up and went, ‘My back hurts a little bit actually. Ah [explicit], I’ve got a little twinge in there somehow. I’ll try to carry on.'”
Dani Dyer was also forced to completely pull out of the show after fracturing her ankle in a fall during rehearsals. In a statement shared on Instagram, the former Love Island star, 29, said: “I had a fall on Friday 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 l’ve had to pull out of the show.”
