Dancing On Ice star pulls out of ITV series hours before final after major injury-Sabrina Barr-Entertainment – Metro

They have been inundated with support (Picture: ITV)

One of the stars who was due to compete in tonight’s Dancing On Ice final has been forced to quit the ITV series after suffering a major injury.

In a post shared on Instagram on Sunday, professional ice skater Vanessa James revealed that her skating partner, Olympian Greg Rutherford, was on his way to hospital for an examination.

‘Unfortunately Greg has sustained a significant injury this morning at rehearsals and won’t be able to perform tonight,’ she wrote.

‘We are on our way to the hospital for Greg to get examined further and receive the treatment he needs.’

The official X account for Dancing On Ice also shared an update on the athlete’s condition, writing in several posts: ‘Sadly Olympian Greg Rutherford MBE has had to withdraw from Dancing On Ice after sustaining an injury whilst in rehearsals for the final episode of the current series.

‘Greg and Vanessa have been such a popular couple this series and have performed some truly memorable routines.

Vanessa’s announcement was accompanied by a selfie of her with Greg (Picture: Instagram/@vanessa_james_sk8)

‘We will be helping to support Greg and wish him well with his recovery. We also want to thank him for being such a treasured member of the Dancing on Ice family.’

Following Greg’s shock departure from Dancing On Ice, the remaining skating partners in the final are Adele Roberts and Mark Hanretty; Miles Nazaire and Vanessa Bauer; and Ryan Thomas and Amani Fancy.

Prior to the final, he paid tribute to his skating partner on his Instagram Story, describing her as a ‘friend for life’.

‘Tomorrow is a massive day. Months of work. Blood, sweat and tears have gone into every performance. I have a friend for life in @vanessa_james_sk8 and can’t wait for you to see the showcase. It’s special ❤️.’

Before it was revealed that he had to back out of the competition, the Olympic gold medal winner spoke out about suffering from injuries.

Greg and Vanessa ‘performed some truly memorable routines’, Dancing On Ice said in a statement(Picture: Kieron McCarron/ITV/Shutterstock)

In the lead-up to the 2022 Olympics, he retired from competing in athletics after a shoulder injury.

The long jump ace said: ‘My body isn’t what it once was anyway and I had to retire due to injuries anyway so it’s very tough.’

He recently spoke to press about suffering from a groin injury weeks ago, explaining how it could have impacted him in the final.

‘There’s certainly been a few moments where I’ve thought: “This probably isn’t going to happen.” The worst one in particular being when the groin tore, which will be four weeks on Saturday,’ The Mirror reported.

Wishing Greg a speedy recovery (Picture: Kieron McCarron/ITV/Shutterstock)

Greg said that he was initially ‘gutted’ saying that it was ‘classic’ of him to suffer from an injury ‘right at the wrong time’.

‘We are currently in a situation where, yes, it is still healing and there’s a little bit of soreness and tightness. But I am able to do what we need to do. Thankfully I am here and I’m thrilled to be here as well,’ he stated.

He then shared how his last hurdle was to perform the famous Bolero routine with Vanessa, which sadly viewers will now not be able to watch on tonight’s show.

The Dancing On Ice final airs today at 6.25pm on ITV1 and ITVX.

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