Will Bayley has made headlines over the past few days after speaking out about the injury he sustained while participating in the 17th series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2019.
In a recent interview with The Sun, Will said he sustained a "horrific" injury during training after being encouraged to jump from height.
The Paralympic table tennis player addressed his recent comments while appearing on BBC Breakfast on Tuesday morning. He said that while some of the newspaper reports have been "sensationalised" and his professional dance partner Janette Manrara was "incredibly supportive", he thinks pro dancers need "extra support" when training celebrities with disabilities.
"Obviously, some of the reports have been sensationalised but I just want to say that Janette was incredibly supportive, hard-working and had a will to win like me," said Will. "I thought we were an amazing team and we got on so well. We were ultra-professional and wanted to win.
"Obviously, there are things that could have gone better," the 36-year-old continued. "My injury could have been avoided because maybe professional dancers need extra support in training if you're working with someone with a severe disability.
© BBC"I've got arthrogryposis, which is sometimes a fragile disability," explained the athlete, adding that he's called "woke" or "controversial" for saying "lessons can be learned". "I think it's not a difficult thing to ask, it should be a priority really," he said.
© ShutterstockWill, who made it clear that he doesn't blame Janette for the injury, encouraged the BBC to offer extra support for pro dancers partnered with celebrities who have disabilities.
"If the BBC are brilliant enough to get people with disabilities in, they have to support those people and make sure that they are safe," he said, adding that he'd previously "brought up" this issue many times before.
© Shutterstock"To put everything on the dance professional, who's not got a great understanding of disability. Their job is hard enough as it is to get me through a routine. Every disability is different and needs to be taken into consideration.
"It's very serious, if someone gets an injury like mine, that will affect them for the rest of their life," he continued. "I'll never get over this knee injury, I'll have to deal with it. I don't want to be 'woe is me' but that's just a fact."
© ShutterstockWill went on to say that he previously wrote to the BBC on this issue but wasn't satisfied with their response. "I was in a bit of a depression when I read it back so I just found it really depressing," he said. "It was kind of like, 'We've done everything we can do and we support you,' and it felt like I was making a mountain out of a molehill.
"That's how I felt but it was what it was and I kind of moved on from that and tried to get back fit and get on with my life," he added.
© GettyA BBC spokesperson told HELLO!: "We have longstanding protocols for dealing with injuries if they occur and that includes contestants receiving all necessary treatment and support as required."
Meanwhile, a representative for Janette told the BBC: "Janette had a great time dancing with Will and one of her favourite moments on the show was doing their contemporary couples choice.
"Her celebrity partner's safety and enjoyment was always the priority throughout her time on Strictly. Janette has never received any complaints and has maintained friendships with all her partners, including Will."
Every Strictly Come Dancing winner so far
- 2004: Natisha Kaplinsky (partner Brendan Cole)
- 2004: Jill Halfpenny (partner Darren Bennett)
- 2005: Darren Gough (partner Lilia Kopylova)
- 2006: Mark Ramprakash (partner Karen Hardy)
- 2007: Alesha Dixon (partner Matthew Cutler)
- 2008: Tom Chambers (partner Camilla Dallerup)
- 2009: Chris Hollins (partner Ola Jordan)
- 2010: Kara Tointon (partner Artem Chigvintsev)
- 2011: Harry Judd (partner Aliona Vilani)
- 2012: Louis Smith (partner Flavia Cacace)
- 2013: Abbey Clancy (partner Aljaž Škorjanec)
- 2014: Caroline Flack (partner Pasha Kovalev)
- 2015: Jay McGuiness (partner Aliona Vilani)
- 2016: Ore Oduba (partner Joanne Clifton)
- 2017: Joe McFadden (partner Katya Jones)
- 2018: Stacey Dooley (partner Kevin Clifton)
- 2019: Kelvin Fletcher (partner Oti Mabuse)
- 2020: Bill Bailey (partner Oti Mabuse)
- 2021: Rose Ayling-Ellis (partner Giovanni Pernice)
- 2022: Hamza Yassin (partner Jowita Przystał)
- 2023: Ellie Leach (partner Vito Coppola)
