Paralympian Will Bayley has said he’ll have to live with excruciating knee pain ‘forever’ after competing on Strictly Come Dancing.
The table tennis player, 36, sustained the injury during rehearsals for the show in 2019 when he jumped from a table, it was his second attempt at the move after his professional partner Janette Manrara, 40, said his first was ‘rubbish.’
Will was born with arthrogryposis which limits the range of motion in the joints of his limbs and completed the move with straight knees.
Recalling the ‘horrific pain’ he experienced as he crashed to the ground, the gold medallist, admitted he thought ‘his whole career was over.’
Speaking to The Sun, Will said: ‘We practiced a few times and I was really careful. But then Janette said my jump was ‘rubbish’ and I needed to smile more and go for it and show a bit of passion.’
Paralympian Will Bayley has said he’ll have to live with excruciating knee pain ‘forever’ after competing on Strictly Come Dancing (pictured in 2021)
The table tennis player sustained the injury during rehearsals in 2019 when he jumped from a table, it was his second attempt at the move after Janette Manrara said his first was ‘rubbish’
Determined to improve, the sportsman ‘went for it’ but experienced ‘the most horrific pain.’
‘I was lying on the floor thinking my whole career was over. I heard my leg crack, I couldn’t breathe,’ he recounted.
‘I’ll never get over that injury — you have it for life. I’ve already got a limiting disability but this on top of it. I wake up in the morning and it hurts. I can now only train for a couple hours before it’s sore.’
Will explained that he ‘didn’t have an issue with Janette’ but felt that she was under pressure from the show’s bosses. They have remained friends since their time on the series.
MailOnline has contacted Janette Manrara’s representative for comment.
A BBC spokesperson said: ‘We will not be commenting on individuals or engaging with speculation. However, as we have said previously we will always listen if people want to make us aware of something or raise it with us directly and we have appropriate procedures and processes in place to manage this.’
At the time of his injury, Will praised his dancing partner Janette for being ‘like a rock’ after his ‘incredible experience’ came to an end, leaving her in tears.
He described hearing his knee ‘pop’ and thought he had broken his leg before a doctor told him he had torn his anterior cruciate ligament.
Appearing on the show as part of the audience, Will said : ‘I am so gutted but it’s so good to be here to support everyone, they’re all smashing it tonight.
‘I feel like I’ve had the most support throughout this whole process, the least I can do is come back and I’m proud to watch you guys.’
Will was born with arthrogryposis which limits the range of motion in the joints of his limbs and completed the move with straight knees but crashed to the ground
Recalling the ‘horrific pain’ he experienced as he crashed to the ground, the gold medallist, admitted he thought ‘his whole career was over’
‘I’ll never get over that injury — you have it for life. I’ve already got a limiting disability but this on top of it. I wake up in the morning and it hurts,’ he said
Will was given a week’s pass before he had to withdraw from the competition completely when his injury meant he would have to miss another live show.
He added: ‘It’s getting there I want to see what it’s like in a couple of weeks but I’ll be there in Tokyo I want to try and win that gold medal again.’
‘My highlight has having my partner Janette, she’s been like my rock to me I can’t speak highly of her enough.’
After recovering from his injury Will won both individual and team silver at the rearranged 2020 Tokyo Games in 2021.
At the time of his injury, Will praised his dancing partner Janette for being ‘like a rock’ after his ‘incredible experience’ came to an end, leaving her in tears
After recovering from his injury Will won both individual and team silver at the rearranged 2020 Tokyo Games in 2021 (pictured this month)
