Dani Dyer’s Shock Strictly Exit: Heartbroken Star Forced to Quit
Emotional send-off as the star admits they’ll miss dancing with Nikita — a bittersweet goodbye that has fans talking.
Tough break before the glitterball even gets a chance to sparkle: Dani Dyer is out of Strictly Come Dancing before the first live show, thanks to a rehearsal injury that turned out to be way more serious than it looked.
What happened
During training for this weekend's live premiere, Dani took a fall. At first, she thought she had just rolled her foot. Then it ballooned. An MRI later, doctors confirmed an ankle fracture. The medical advice was exactly what you think it would be: absolutely no dancing.
'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. To say I’m heartbroken is the biggest understatement. I am so going to miss dancing with Nikita but will of course be watching closely and cheering all the couples on.'
That Nikita is pro partner Nikita Kuzmin, whose partnership with Dani was already shaping up well in rehearsals.
How the show is reacting
BBC Studios executive producer Sarah James praised the energy Dani brought to the series and said her pairing with Nikita was off to a sensational start. The team is gutted she can’t compete this year, they’re wishing her a speedy recovery, and the door is very much open for her to return to the ballroom down the line.
Will Strictly replace her?
No decision yet. The word from the show is that whether someone else joins the Strictly 2025 line-up remains to be seen. Yes, that 2025 phrasing is a bit confusing given we’re talking about this series, but that’s the language for now.
For what it’s worth, Strictly does have form with last-minute swaps. In 2019, Kelvin Fletcher jumped in for the injured Jamie Laing just days before the first live show and ended up winning the whole thing with Oti Mabuse. So, if a replacement is needed, it can happen fast—and sometimes pays off in a big way.
What’s next
The next Strictly live show is scheduled for Saturday 27 September at 6:55pm on BBC One and iPlayer. RadioTimes says the BBC has been approached for comment.