Kelvin Fletcher has revealed that he never expected a phone call from Strictly Come Dancing bosses because he wasn't on the replacement list of celebs. The former Emmerdale star admitted it was a huge shock to be asked to step in for injured Jamie Laing, and he thought at any moment it would be revealed that he was being pranked by Ant and Dec.
Speaking to Mark Wright on his Heart FM show, which will air on Saturday, Kelvin said of being asked to join Strictly: "I wasn’t expecting it at all. I wasn’t on a replacement list, I wasn’t on any list so I was completely, completely out of the blue. Even when we started on the Thursday I got rushed down there, met the producers, had a medical, and I kept saying to them ‘I feel like Ant and Dec are gonna jump out with a film crew’.
Kelvin and Oti are performing a Samba on Saturday night
Although he's thrilled to be on the show, Kelvin admitted that he feels guilty about replacing Jamie, who was forced to pull out of the competition after injuring his foot during the group dance on Strictly's launch show. He continued: "You know, I was absolutely delighted. I was ecstatic. My family were really, really excited but it’s on the back of someone else’s misfortune. It was a really strange feeling because I almost felt guilty about being excited and being really chuffed to do it because you know some poor guy there was absolutely gutted that we was injured and couldn’t do it."
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Jamie was forced to pull out due to an injury
He added: "So even a week into rehearsals, even though it was tough and it was very, you know… I haven’t done any dancing before, so it was all very new and very exposing I guess. You know you feel quite vulnerable but even then I got a sense of that enjoyment, and that sense of family and what an exciting time it could be and a great journey. I know people use that word all the time but it does kind of feel like a journey already."
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Strictly fans only have one day left to wait before they can see Kelvin on the dancefloor for the first time. He is now partnered up with Oti Mabuse, and they will both join the remaining celebrities and their professional dance partners for the first live show on Saturday. Fortunately, no-one will be voted out of the competition this week and all 15 couples will take to the floor to perform either a Latin or Ballroom routine.
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