Strictly star Harry Aikines-Aryeetey has shared that he broke down in tears minutes before his first live show on Saturday night (September 27).
He and Karen Hauer performed the cha cha to Push It by Salt-n-Pepa, and ended up with a score of 19.
This put them towards the top of the leaderboard. But despite this success, Harry admits his experience was undercut by emotion. Now he’s admitted that, as well as crying to host Tess Daly during the first live show, Harry was also emotional before going on stage…
What happened to Strictly star Harry Aikines-Aryeetey?
Harry is best known as Nitro on the series Gladiators. But when he sustained an injury, he had to withdraw from season 2 of the BBC show.
The lingering emotional impact of this, coupled with first-dance nerves, led Harry to shed secret tears backstage on Saturday. He explained all in a candid interview on The One Show alongside Karen last night (September 30).
“Yeah, it hit me,” he admitted. “I got overwhelmed with emotion because not a lot of people know the extent of the injury that I had prior, which saw me out of series 2 of Gladiators. But, you know, quite often we question ourselves, we go through a few lows. And, for me, I am a big ball of energy.”
He also credited being part of the Strictly line-up with helping him get one step closer to returning to his “true self”.
“When you don’t know if you’re going to be what you once was, just in terms of your personality, being on that dance floor and being able to show my true self and be that person again, it just meant so much,” he added.
He said the same on Saturday night when he broke down in tears to Strictly host Tess Daly. He told her: “I never thought I’d be myself again and it just feels so nice to be myself. I didn’t even know if I’d be able to walk right.”
‘It put a strain on our family’
Last summer, while training for the second season of Gladiators, he ruptured his kneecap. This led to him having surgery and being on strict bed rest. As a result of this, Harry said he went through “a tough time mentally” as he wondered whether he’d ever be able to be physical again.
“For athletes, obviously, our body is our tool and I wasn’t confident that I was going to be back sprinting or back to being Nitro,” he added. “It put a strain on our family and put a strain on my well-being.”
Strictly gave him ‘something to smile about’
Then, at the perfect time, the opportunity to perform on Strictly’s Christmas show came up.
“We configured a plan for me to work my way around the dance floor, and I’m so thankful for that opportunity because it gave me something to smile about,” he shared.
Since then, Harry has made a full recovery, having recently filmed season 3 of Gladiators.
Yet, he still has one reservation about his second stint on Strictly. “My big fear is not enjoying it,” he admitted. “Not going out with a smile on my face and embracing it but being caught up in with the nerves of it all. The judges are amazing. I hope that I can make them smile.”
Read More: Karen Hauer has proof the Strictly curse ‘exists’ as she reveals: ‘I’ve seen things’
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