Strictly star shares painful-looking injury just hours before show starts (original) (raw)

Katya Jones, a professional dancer on Strictly, revealed on her Instagram stories that one of her nails broke just hours before the new series of the BBC dance show begins

Katye Jones shared an update on her Instagram stories

A Strictly Come Dancing star has revealed a painful-looking injury just hours before the 2024 series of the show starts.

Professional dancer Katya Jones shared a photo on her Instagram stories revealing that one of her nails broke, with a crying emoji. The show is launching this evening and will air on BBC One from 7.20pm to 9pm.

Katya joined the Strictly team of professional dancers in 2016 and her first partner was former politician, now turned broadcaster Ed Balls. She was also teamed up with Seann Walsh in 2018, Mike Bushell in 2019 and Nicola Adams in 2020, but the pair had to bow out in week four due to a positive test.

The professional dancer shared a photo of her broken nail

Katya dancing with Nigel Harman on last year's series (

Image:

PA)

In 2021, she was paired with Olympic champion Adam Peaty and the following year she danced alongside Arsenal and England footballer Tony Adams. Last year, she was paired with EastEnders actor Nigel Harman, but just before they were due to dance a Charleston in the quarter final, Nigel was forced to pull out due to an injury.

Last month, Katya revealed that rehearsals have been "very difficult" amid the ongoing controversy surrounding the BBC show and following the loss of Giovanni Pernice and Graziano Di Prima. When asked by a follower on Instagram how it's all going, Katya was honest in her response as she revealed: "We've done four weeks of rehearsals. It's been very hard physically. But it's been so rewarding. 12 routines that we are about to pre-record are absolutely spectacular. I can't wait for you all to see them."

It comes as BBC bosses are bringing back a weekly cap on practice hours which was first introduced last year. The cap means celebrities and their professional dancers can only rehearse for around 48 hours per week, which equates to an average of eight hours per day, with a day off.

The couples can choose the hours they want to practice, but without exceeding the weekly total. The weekly cap was established to create a level playing field between the contestants. A source told The Sun: "The celebs have been told they have to stick to the cap. They're all incredibly competitive and desperate to do well. But bosses want to make sure everyone gets a fair crack of the whip, so they've laid out the rules."

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