IF you're being serious rather than sarcastic, then get a grip - she is injured, she can't dance, nothing suspicious about it. Maybe you should try jiving on an injured ankle and then see if you can still claim she's making it up? I wondered how long it would be before the ridiculous conspiracy theories emerged and DS did not let me down. Have a bit of respect!


A two person final would be glorious, nothing to be concerned about at all, except possibly for the pros not being able to dodge the dance they think will be their celebrity's worst and instead actually having to do all the dances and dance more than 3 times in the final!

I am sorry that this happened to Laura.

But I'm a bit concerned about the rest of this series, because, if she can't get over her ankle injury and is forced to withdraw, what can we do? We surely can't have a 2 couple final, and a lot of people seem to be poorly or injured this year.

We've had 4? 2 people finals before. At least all the dances get done.

It's dismal though and exhausting ... and a bit boring. I remember the Ricky Whittle/Chris Hollins final. Not exciting.

They could intersperse it with the other contestants doing their highest scoring dance

had it been anastacia people would have wanted her out. I don't like this 'free pass' business one little bit.

People get injured, it happens, and celebs in previous series had been able to miss weeks before so..., I'd like to give Laura the benefit of the doubt that it was the best decision for her to sit this one out.

It doesn't bother me personally, because even when her dances haven't been great in previous weeks she's still never been the worst dancer in the show, and, with some of those really bad dancers still left, it's not like there are other celebs that have suddenly been put in an unfortunate position with her not being in the voting running alongside them as some of them should have gone before even the likes of Marvin, Naga and Tameka anyway (imo on actual dance ability). If better dancers end up B.T. then as long as they're alongside a lesser dancer they'll still go through, so Laura's missed week won't really put anything at an unnatural balance in terms of who (on dancing) deserves to stay and who doesn't.

Awful year injury and pull out wise. Feels slightly out of control from the top.

If Laura's ankle doesn't heel in time, she has to forfeit her place.

Does that mean a 2 couple final? Wouldn't work with the BBC schedules as they are planned in weeks/months in advance - as it should have been 4 couples. If having the same length programme for the final when only 2, when planning for 4 will look too much stuff needs to be padded in.

Ii don't agree with getting a bye. If you can't dance then you're out. I don't think a sore foot warrants not dancing. Strap the foot and get on with it. Of course if didn't hurt that she missed her jive which looked awful

Greg strapped his wrist last week and pulled off some amazing lifts.

If Laura was doing a dance such as the foxtrot or waltz, she would have done it. Its the constant kicking, landing on the floor which caused the injury

I thought her jive looked like it was going to be good.

I think the idea of no byes is a bit too ruthless for me - I think a one week bye is the fairest thing. Yes, it could be exploited but just because it could be exploited, doesn't mean it is being exploited. I think the celebs who have used it have all been genuine.

This is a good point, especially the quickstep and the jive are very high impact on the ankles. Maybe TPTB can learn from this and mix up the dances for everyone to minimize the likelihood of this type of damage. Bit late for Laura though.

I also noticed on ITT that Daisy had a sprung floor for training. I've never noticed this in training before (I might not be that observant, though) but I think it would help to avoid these kinds of injuries if everyone had them.

The difference with Anastacia was that she danced against medical advice, she should have taken a bye too.



It was bad enough for the medics to forbid her to dance, and if she done so she may have risked permanent damage. A bit more than just "a sore foot".

Byes have always been used, they are nothing new, and if they have to sit out a second week they are out of the competition like Jade Johnson, who ruined her athletics career through getting injured on Strictly.

TPTB must be praying for a recovery. Although it's been done in the past I don't fancy a two person final.

Hopefully she'll be okay to dance next week and make it all the way to the final. I love Laura. She's my fave.

I know Gio was there but was Laura in the studio at all tonight?

Those who are suggesting it would have been as simple as strapping up her ankle and getting on with the dance should try it sometime, then come back and let us know how permanent ligament damage feels like...


Of course it would work - it just means the finalists do more dances. It wouldn't be the first time there's been a 2-couple final.

BIB - Unbelievable, comparing a strapped wrist to an ankle injury??

I think Claudia said Laura was watching at home. Maybe that was under medical advice too.

I blame the producers for giving 3 fast dance in a row. Salsa, Quickstp and Jive.
Giovanni has also choreographed very fast stuff and it obviously didn't help,

It was a genuine injury confirmed by the shows own physio's who advised her not to dance just two hours before the show. If she doesn't recover by next week she'll have to leave the show, it's not a big deal.

Perhaps all the others should be given free passes.

It's noone's fault Sarah, not the producers, Gio's or Laura's. It's hard but these things happen. In the training week leading up to the first live show Laura related in her Glamour blog that her right ankle was swollen and she was having acupuncture to relieve the pressure, the same ankle she's having trouble with now. She'd discovered back then her left leg was stronger and took most of her weight.

That was over four weeks ago now and weeks of intensive dance training was always going to take it's toll whatever the dance. Laura said herself in her tweet yesterday she hadn't realised how serious her injury was until it was too late. She was obviously determined to manage the pain and perform if she possibly could. I would love to see them back for Halloween but only if there's no risk at all of Laura causing permanent damage to her ankle. A few more weeks in Strictly isn't worth that.

Gio looked so worried for her in the training clips and I thought his message to her on the main show was lovely, feeling for him too.

Poor Laura. I hope she is able to continue. She's such a fan of the show and has played a very difficult hand remarkably well.

True, then again people have to be aware of their recurring injuries and try to protect them. Like you said, long term health is more important than survival on Strictly, I think celebs will have to start dancing jive in flats. Dancing a jive with even a small heel puts lot of pressure on ankles.