Jake Quickenden has had to pull out of the Dancing On Ice Christmas special after breaking a bone in his neck.
The Hollyoaks actor shared a snap of himself and previous skating partner Vanessa Bauer and said the show’s medical team advised him to focus on healing his injury.
Jake, 31, said he’s “absolutely devastated” that he’s had to pull out of the show but he can’t risk “falling and damaging my neck even more”.
Read more: Hollyoaks’ Jake Quickenden suffers nasty injury after pool accident
Jake, who won last year’s series of the skating show, wrote on Instagram: “Absolutely devastated that I have had to pull out of @dancingonice Christmas launch show.
“I have broken a bone in my neck and I lost feeling in my right arm and hand for a few days after the injury, luckily this is improving but I don’t have enough time to heal unfortunately.
Really gutted but I will support all the amazing people taking part!
“I have to put into perspective that I can’t risk falling and damaging my neck even more, I obviously was so looking forward to dancing again with @vanessabauer_skates and I wanted to take part but the amazing medical team think it’s a risk.
“I know what I’m like and I put 100% into everything and with ice skating this means I fall a lot and one bad fall could be really really bad!!”
He added: “Really gutted but I will support all the amazing people taking part! I’ll be back stronger than ever soon enough and I like a challenge… gutted.”
Vanessa commented on the post: “I was SO looking forward to skating on TV with you again as you’ve been an absolute star in training!
“Health comes first tho so I wish you the fastest healing my champ!”
Fans were also gutted and sent their well-wishes to Jake.
One person commented: “Oh no, wishing you a speedy recovery,” while another said: “Such a shame but your health comes first. Wishing you a speedy recovery!”
Read more: Gemma Collins ‘to perform showstopper’ on Dancing On Ice Christmas special
A third added: “Ohhh noooo, I was so looking forward to it as well… get well soon.”
The Christmas special will see the likes of Gemma Collins and 2009 winner Ray Quinn as well as a performance from skating legends Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean.
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