Strictly Come Dancing stars pay tribute to Nigel Harman

following his shock show exit after he was hospitalised due to painful rib injury

The stars of Strictly Come Dancing have paid tribute to Nigel Harman following his shock exit from this year’s series.

Actor Nigel, 50, had been taking part in the BBC Latin and ballroom competition alongside professional partner Katya Jones, 34, but pulled out of the series just hours before the live show on Saturday after trying to perform a stunt in rehearsals, which left him with a rib injury.

Former EastEnders star Nigel and Katya were gearing up to perform a Charleston to Step in Time from Mary Poppins for the quarter finals when disaster struck.

His exit left just Ellie Leach, Bobby Brazier, Layton Williams and Annabel Croft still left in the contest battling it out in a bid to win the iconic glitterball trophy.

The BBC confirmed to MailOnline: ‘Unfortunately Nigel has sustained an injury which means he is unable to perform in tonight’s show and has had to withdraw from Strictly.’

‘We wish Nigel a speedy recovery and they both will be very much missed by our entire Strictly family,’ the official Strictly Instagram account added in a post confirming his departure