Strictly Come Dancing's Brendan Cole has revealed he recently cheated death during an accident at his home in Mallorca. The 41-year-old was cutting down a tree with a chainsaw in his garden when he fell 40ft off a ladder. Brendan ended up with a badly injured leg, but admitted it could have been a lot worse. He told the Sun: "I hit the floor with a thud and I checked I was still alive.
Brendan Cole recently cheated death during an accident at his home in Mallorca
STORY: Anton Du Beke has secretly married!
"I have hurt my leg. I am serious. I fell off a ladder. I was chopping a tree down with a chainsaw as it had caterpillars in it. It was awkward. I came down with quite a thud. It did hurt. I was wounded for a while. It was my first time up a ladder," Brendan continued. "It was a brand new 13m ladder. There was just a Spanish guy saying, 'Are you ok, are you ok?'"
New Zealand-born Brendan also spoke for the first time about losing out on the role of Strictly head judge. Both he and fellow dancer Anton Du Beke had screen-tested for the place on the panel, but the position eventually went to Strictly newcomer Shirley Ballas. "I was hoping for myself, but never mind," he said. "Poor Anton and poor me, but the show must go on.
Brendan lost out on the role of Strictly head judge to Shirley Ballas
STORY: Strictly's Natalie Lowe quits the show
"Shirley was in a good position to get the job, so she is going to make the show interesting. The BBC have the say and they have gone for Shirley. I had a screen test for the role, and so did Anton. It was really nice to be involved in the process with the hope that it might be me, but it wasn't."