Oti Mabuse was "devastated" when Jamie Laing was forced to leave ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ due to his foot injury.
The 29-year-old professional dancer was gutted for the ‘Made in Chelsea’ star after he had to pull out of competing on the BBC One Latin and ballroom contest after the show’s launch, due to a foot injury.
The ‘Greatest Dancer’ judge spent "all day" in bed upset over the fact she might not be able to perform with a partner on the show this series.
She told Radio Times magazine: "I was devastated when Jamie hurt himself and I had a long, tearful conversation with him.
"For a while I thought I had no partner and I was in bed all day thinking, ‘I can’t do the show!’"
Fortunately for Oti, Jamie was replaced by former ‘Emmerdale’ star Kelvin Fletcher, 35, and she burst into tears when she got the call to let her know she will have a celebrity to hit the dancefloor with after all.
Oti said: "I was feeling really bad, but one of the producers said, ‘We’ll see what we can do.’ When they called and told me about Kelvin, I cried – and it turns out he’s incredible!"
Jamie, 30, suffered a painful ligament tear during the group dance for the show’s launch, but he tried to push through despite being in agony.
He said recently: "I honestly thought I was Billy Elliot, I just wanted to dance. It came to the day, it hurt a little bit but we warmed up and I was fine.
"We’ve been practising this dance for three and a half weeks and I [danced] into the wonderful [Oti Mabuse] and as I popped up in the air like a jack in the box it felt like someone had hit me on the back of it [foot] with a belt.
"There was popping in my foot. It’s like stepping on glass and I grabbed Oti and said ‘Oti, something’s happened in my foot!’ And she just went ‘Dance!’ and I went ‘OK.’
"Because I think with those dancers they go through pain and struggles the entire time, the show must go on. And being British, you just smile and go through the entire thing."
The reality star has been offered a place on the show next year.
Oti Mabuse was ‘devastated’ when Jamie Laing left Strictly Come Dancing
