Strictly Come Dancing star James Jordan has revealed a huge clue that could have predicted La Voix’s absence from Blackpool Week.
The pro dancer appeared on the show between 2006 and 2013, alongside his wife, Ola Jordan, with whom he was partnered with the likes of Alex Jones, Vanessa Feltz, Gabby Logan, and Denise van Outen.
Since leaving the series, James has been open about his thoughts on the BBC One competition, which has seen three stars quit so far this year and another forced to skip Blackpool Week.
It was announced earlier this week that La Voix, who is making history as the first Drag Queen on the main show, had been forced to pull out of the next live show after a devastating injury.
The BBC shared in a statement that she’d been advised to rest, but would be given a bye through to next week with partner Aljaz Skorjanec.
La Voix added: “Due to an injury, I’ve been advised that I’m unable to perform, and my heart truly breaks knowing I won’t be dancing in such an iconic venue.
“Aljaž and I have worked incredibly hard, and we were so excited to share our routine with everyone. I am devastated not to be joining the rest of the cast on that famous dancefloor, but my focus now is on recovery.”
The performer later confirmed they were suffering from a bone bruise as a result of wearing heels, explaining in an Instagram video: “It’s where my toe joint meets my foot, so it’s like a deep bone bruise, which if I keep working on could become a stress fracture, which obviously means a broken foot.”
The fracture would require six to eight weeks to recover, with La Voix calling that outcome “awful”, but the injury has luckily been caught early.
“I’m icing, keeping my foot elevated and resting as much as I can,” she reassured fans, echoing how “gutted” she was to have to sit out this week and the uncertainty of whether she could return for the rest of the series.
James has now shared a huge clue that La Voix was suffering from the injury during her last live show.
In an exclusive interview with Reach PLC on behalf of Freebets, where he works as the entertainment betting expert, he said: “I feel sorry for them because I saw last week that she was wearing flats in the dance. So clearly she had an issue with her ankle or something like that, that’s what I’m surmising.
“And they’ve pulled out of this week, and the whole VT was about them getting to Blackpool. I know how much they were excited about going there.
“So clearly she’s done something bad enough to stop her going to Blackpool, and the fact that it was so important to them.”
He did, however, urge for more clarity on the rules after La Voix and Aljaz were given a bye through to the next live show, saying: “In my opinion, I’ve got nothing against La Voix and Aljaz, because I love them, I think they’re brilliant, but it’s still a competition at the end of the day, there needs to be more clarity on what the rules are.
“What are the rules? Tell us what the rules are? At what point can you not get a bye through to the next round? Or maybe next year, for example, make it a proper competition and say, if you get injured and pull out, you’re out of the competition and we have no elimination that week.”
He continued: “The rules just need to be more clear. And my personal feeling is it should be that if you don’t dance one week, you’re out of the competition, and there’d be no elimination that week, which means it stays exactly the same.”
La Voix has yet to confirm whether medical professionals may advise her to withdraw from Strictly entirely, or if she’ll be able to perform next week.
During an appearance on It Takes Two just days ago, she said: “This has been ongoing since the Foxtrot week, [it] was when I had a little niggle in my foot, hence why there were some comments about me being flat-footed in the famous heel turn and toe turn.
“I was thinking, ‘This will be fine, this will be fine’. And it got gradually worse and worse, until on Saturday, we had to change shoes. I couldn’t wear heels for the Couple’s Choice; I had to wear those awful flat shoes.”
She added: “We tried on Monday to learn this week’s dance, and it was really clear that I was really struggling [and] in pain. So, we’ve just had to be professional and call this, and hopefully with some rest, I can get back.”