Katya Jones and Nigel Harman were forced to exit Strictly Come Dancing after the Casualty star sustained an injury during a dress rehearsal that saw him pull out of the competition.
The 50-year-old has been open about his disappointment and now Katya has taken to social media to share her thoughts. The dancer shared a carousel of images featuring behind-the-scenes looks and a photo of the pair pulling sad faces following the confirmation of their exit. "And here we are," she penned alongside a broken heart emoji.
"What an abrupt ending. But when the dust has settled, I know only beautiful memories will remain in my heart. When we turned up every day and had our coffees, when we would have discussions about the story of our dance and our characters, every time you made me laugh, every time you gave me a reassuring hug."
Katya continued: "When I would get excited about your toilet breaks because you always belted out some amazing tunes whilst doing your business. Giving the first pre-view of our dances to your family, and see their faces light up. The support of your friends and countless messages of love and encouragement that we received. The list can go on.
"And then the excitement of doing the dance on set and see it come alive on Fridays. Eventually walking out on to the dance floor together every Saturday, holding hands, feeling the magic in the air. I am so grateful this partnership happened. So proud of you and privileged to spend time with such an enormously talented human . AND THE BIGGEST APPRECIATION FOR YOUR LOVE TO US!"
Katya's post was immediately inundated with messages of support, as one fan said: "Loved watching you both light up every Saturday night. I'm calling a rebate on that Charleston! The world needs to see it," while a second added: "We loved your partnership. Always brought us joy."
A third commented: "Would dearly love to see any rough footage of the Charleston. We miss you two dancing so much. If there is any way to get the two of you develop and put on a short tour I just know lots of people would book to see you," and a fourth wrote: "Strictly just isn't the same without you two! So upset for you. Your Charleston looked fantastic in the clips we saw and wish we could see the whole dance."
Nigel and Katya were due to perform a Charleston to Step in Time from Disney's Mary Poppins after sailing through to the quarter-finals of the beloved BBC dance competition before it was confirmed he would be pulling out.
The actor watched the live show from the 'Claudatorium' and spoke with presenter Claudia Winkleman. "I was leaping off a rostrum, and was about to be caught by some very handsome men, and as I flew I was Peter Pan, and as I landed I was in A&E," he explained, revealing he had broken his rib.
"It's quite painful," Nigel admitted. "This hasn't really sunk in. I've been avoiding Katya all day because that makes it really real as well."
Echoing Nigel’s pain, Katya, who would have reached her first quarter final in six years with the actor, held back tears as she said: "It's quite hard to talk right now, not going to lie. I have absolutely loved every moment of us creating magic on the dancefloor.
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"I know the reasons you did this was for your daughter and for your parents, and I know they would be very proud of you," she said.