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Strictly 2021: Robert Webb brands BBC dance show ‘brutal’ as he shares fears he’d be ‘cancelled’

The star had heart surgery two years ago

Robert Webb has branded Strictly Come Dancing “weird” after leaving the 2021 show for health reasons.

The Peep Show star, 49, underwent heart surgery two years ago and had to pull out of the BBC ballroom show after starting to feel symptoms.

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A post shared by Robert Webb (@arobertwebb)

Strictly 2021: What did Robert say about the show?

Talking to The Sun, Robert said it had felt a bit odd having cameras everywhere all the time.

He added: “And it is unnatural as an actor as you want to be in this headspace where you are all trusting each other and you can do it wrong and be bad in front of your fellow actors and the director and it does not matter without getting cancelled.”

Read more: Robert Webb says he ‘didn’t have a choice’ after leaving Strictly Come Dancing

“But I trust the people as they are only there to make you look good, but it is a bit weird having this thing of cameras all the time,” he went on.

Robert went on to explain that Strictly wasn’t an “unpleasant environment” at all.

However, he said the days were long so it was “a long time to be nice”.

The actor, who danced with Dianne Buswell, also admitted that learning the routines so fast could be a challenge.

He went on: “In the theatre you have press night and we are always doing the first show and it will be the worst show. The actors know this will be the worst performance except at the end of that performance [Strictly] you might get fired. It is brutal. It is an absolutely weird show.”

Robert Webb on Strictly
Robert left the show due to ill health (Credit: BBC iPlayer)

Why did Robert leave?

Robert quit Strictly earlier this week.

He had previously said he had felt fit enough to take on the competition.

However, he soon realised he had “bitten off way more than I could chew for this stage in my recovery”.

Read more: Robert Webb and Dianne Buswell forced to pull out of Strictly Come Dancing due to heart condition

“I had begun to feel symptoms that led me to seek an urgent consultation with my heart specialist,” he said.

“It was her view that it would be better for the sake of my health to step back from the show.”

Robert Webb and Dianne Buswell Tango to La Cumparsita by Machiko Ozawa ✨ BBC Strictly 2021

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Julia Hunt
Freelance Writer