Well it either had to be Morphine or Pethadine - nothing else works on a hernia/back spasm. Do you realise the pain someone is in when they have a hernia/back spasm? Plus a spasm is spasmodic, so it could have happened at any time. What a coincidence that he never had a spasm any time during the final

If that is true what an absolute fool Ricky is to play with his health like that .
It is foolhardy and stupid to lift above her head with an inguinal hernia and he risked a ruptured or strangulated bowel . Which is truely not something you wish on anyone
If he thinks that his making him a hero , in my eyes it makes him a careless fool

so what's his reason for this blatant lie then

Where the hell do you get off on talking like you know ANYTHING, let alone everything?

Sofa-experts are the worst.

Pride, sore loser, ego, excuses, excuse, excuses etc, etc, etc

BTW are you really that naive that you had to ask that question

I'm not naive at all I just can't see any reason for him saying this after the final unless he'd danced badly in the final

Abba, the salt I can cope with, it's the gallons of vinegar that some posts are drenched in that I find hard to swallow.

How on earth we he be able to lift Natalie if he had a hernia?

Thank you.

Because he's a professional - the show must go on? I presume you've heard the phrase?

Err - it's a 'story' and presumably he got paid for it.

Do you know what a hernia is? It would be physically impossible.

To be fair Laura, for him to say he had a hernia and then do those lifts is beyond belief. I think there have been a lot of nasty comments about Chris on here and Cola supporters just feel that this comment by Ricky is an attempt at sympathy. In fact, it basically says that he only lost because his health was bad. But he chose an example that could be easily disproved. And there lies the problem.

If he did have a hernia, I think it's extremely unlikely he would have been allowed to do any lifts. Not just medical advice but insurance.

Thank you

EDIT: Now I have read it, it seems like the OP mistook or misrepresented the story...at least according to the NotW

In short, he developed the hernia in between accepting a contract for SCD and the show starting. He didnt want to be forced out of the show, so decided to withold his medical condition from the producers (raises eyebrow). THEN, hours before the final - when it's too late for the producers to take action, but he may get some sympathy votes? - he decides to confess, and to the NotW of all people.

Ricky, Ricky, Ricky, didnt anyone tell you NotW don't publish till a Sunday, long after the SCD winner is decided?



So, what do I think now? Well, if I accept at face value that Ricky didnt want sympathy, I still cannot ignore the fact that this young man is so fame-hungry he will endanger his own life for 5 minutes of tv fame. I think he is stupid, irresponsible and incredibly selfish to have risked this.

If he had a hernia he would have been advised not to do all those ridiculous lifts in the show dance and actually do some dancing instead. Maybe then the audience would have been surprised and wowed - instead we got what we expected. Ricky hefting natalie around like a sack of spuds.

There are plenty if people out there who have hernias and just get on with it whilst waiting for operations. If Ricky's hernia was reduceable - that he can pop it back in - then it's not going to compromises him that much with regards to lifting.

Also, morphine and pethidine are NOT the 'only' thing that will work for pain relief in hernias and definately not for back spasms. I refer you to the WHO pain ladder, the guidelines for all medics to use when treating pain. I avoid giving morphine unless other analgesics haven't helped.

There are degrees of hernia suffering? As for a back spasm by definition spasms are involuntary and beyond control and I saw no spasmodic movement last night. The NOTW article says Ricky's doctor diagnosed hernia and strongly advised against weight lifting. Any way with Strictly over (and Xmas Special dances would be in the can soon if not already) Ricky is allegedly due in hospital for an operation, the upheaval to last a month. That will be the proof whether he has a fullblown hernia or not.

This ex footballer has torso pics on the web showing impressive sixpack as well as triceps, and obviously an outstandingly strong guy able to lift Natalie 7 foot high above his head. The Beeb's own site shows Natalie as age 29, height 5 foot 9.5 inches (with or without heels?). Natalie would be minimum 140 pounds. To see the weight of 5 suitcases balanced on Ricky's neck and shoulders, with spinning force adding to the problems of control and dismount, this really worried me last night. Could this have gone traumatically wrong, dropping Natalie from 6 foot high in front of 12million expecting feelgood entertainment? With rushing adrenalin blotting out pain signals could an accident leave Ricky with neck and spinal cord injury and a wheelchair?

A courageous choreography from Natalie which would do credit to the South African acrobatic dance demo by Craig and Natalie last week. All's well that ends well, but on balance I personally would prefer not to see such a death-defying gamble on Strictly.

Having allegedly kept his hernia a secret from the Beeb and even from Natalie, why did Ricky arrange to go public on Final night? Well this Hollyoaks actor wants to make it in Hollywood. Superman dancing with hernia would certainly make a story in Hollywood.

To be fair, stargazer, it says nothing of the sort. If his dancing had been poor on the night, then he might have needed an excuse for it, but it wasn't and he didn't.

If he were seeking sympathy, then surely the time to reveal that he'd been having problems with his back would've been after he'd fluffed that lift in the Lindyhop? What good is revealing it now when it can't gain him votes?

And as for disproving it, the only one amongst us who's medically qualified seems to think that it would be possible for him to dance and lift with the conditions he claims to have.

You are really saying that people with a hernia 'the size of a tennis ball' in the groin would be uncompromised in lifting weights of approximately lets say 7 - 7.5 stones above shoulder level?!

Yes there are degrees of hernia's...and indeed different catagories of hernias.

Back spasms...well, they were the bane of my life on A&E as its clear that some people's pain thresholds are far lower than others. Genuine back spasms are indeed involuntary but you would not be able to see any 'spasmodic movements'...Im not sure what you are quite getting at there. Ricky's pain was clearly adequately controlled enough for him to dance and another poster was right when it is said lying about doing nothing is the worst thing you can do with back pain.

Yes I am. But then, you asked me a few weeks back if I was sure I was a real Doctor.

Yes. I am a little skeptical. But I suppose there is always some divergence in medical opinion. Many would not share yours on this issue. Each to their own!

Who would have thought it eh DrB? The guy loses, he then admits to being injured and yet he still gets a pasting! It really seems to me that for some people winning isn't enough.

I'm also a little sceptical of those who just can't accept that their person won and leave it at that.