Entertainment
Strictly Come Dancing 2021: John Whaite suffering from ‘sore lower back’ as he details ‘pain’ of training
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John Whaite has revealed how much pain he is in training for the Quickstep for Halloween Week on Strictly Come Dancing, as he and Johannes Radebe prepare to unleash their wild side on the dancefloor.
Last week, John and Johannes stormed to the top of the leaderboard with their bakery-inspired Charleston, scoring two 9s and two 10s for their second-highest total of the competition so far.
This week, they’re hoping to emulate their previous success with a Quickstep set to Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival, with the pair taking on the personas of mischievous werewolves.
On Wednesday’s edition of It Takes Two, John and Johannes joined host Janette Manrara in the BBC studio to discuss their upcoming dance, opening up about the difficulties of having to be in hold for a significant portion of their routine.
Janette explained that in the Quickstep, the couples have to ‘stay in hold for a lot of the time’, adding: ‘The synchronicity has to be absolutely perfect.’
Johannes outlined how today in practise, he and John have been figuring out how to make their tall heights work in hold.
The gruelling training for the Quickstep has been no walk in the park (Picture: BBC)
Former Great British Bake Off winner John explained how the positions he’s had to adopt in the dance have left him feeling sore.
‘The hold is the hard thing for me, because I’m doing the traditionally “female role” a lot in this dance, so to have that slightly bent to one side,’ he said, bending his body to one side as he demonstrated the frame.
‘Welcome honey, welcome. Just saying,’ Janette joked, before John went into further detail on his aches and pains.
‘It’s painful! And my lower back is sore, my ribs are sore, we keep banging knees,’ he said.
Nonetheless, Janette emphasised how much faith she has in the pair, who are now one of 10 couples left in the competition.
More: Strictly Come Dancing
Following Sunday’s results show, when it was confirmed that John and Johannes had made it to Halloween Week, the professional dancer became overwhelmed with emotion, shedding tears on camera.
‘I can’t tell you how happy I am with this partnership – thank you very much,’ he said, as John joked that they needed a towel to wipe away Johannes’ tears.
It Takes Two returns tomorrow at 6.30pm on BBC Two.
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