BBC Strictly Come Dancing star forced to quit show after 'biting off more than he could chew'

A BBC Strictly Come Dancing star dramatically quit the programme over fears of "dying" during the show. Robert Webb, the Channel 4 Peep Show, quit Strictly Come Dancing in 2021 after realising he had "bitten off more than he could chew".

Webb took part in the show two years after undergoing lifesaving open heart surgery. The Peep Show star, partnered with professional dancer Dianne Buswell, said at the Henley Literary Festival during his time on the show: “It is brutal. It is an absolutely weird show.

“It is not like it is an unpleasant environment, but they are long days and it is a long time to be nice.” He added: “If we had longer to rehearse it would happen, but we get four days and one performance... At the end of that performance you might get fired.”

READ MORE Premier Inn customers furious over change to hotel bars that's 'needless'

In a statement he said: “I’m extremely sorry to have to announce that I’m withdrawing from Strictly Come Dancing due to ill health. Two years ago I had open heart surgery and although I believed I was fit enough to take on Strictly and its demanding schedule, it became clear that I had bitten off way more than I could chew for this stage in my recovery.

“I had begun to feel symptoms that led me to seek an urgent consultation with my heart specialist, and it was her view that it would be better for the sake of my health to step back from the show. I’m proud of the three dances that Dianne Buswell and I managed to perform and deeply regret having to let her down like this.

“I couldn’t have wished for a more talented partner or more patient teacher, and it’s a measure of Dianne’s professionalism and kindness that I was able to get as far as I did.” He thanked viewers for voting for him and Buswell, adding he was “especially touched by the support from fellow heart patients”.

m“I think perhaps I was too eager to impress them. They will know that recovery doesn’t always go in a straight line, and I hope they’re not too disappointed that I ran into the limits of my resilience much sooner than I’d hoped,” he said.

“I leave knowing that Strictly viewers are in very safe hands and I’ll be cheering for my brother and sister contestants all the way to Christmas. Despite this sad ending, it has been a genuine honour to be part of this huge, joyful and barking mad TV show. Long may it continue.”