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Stefan Dennis managed to soldier on to perform his Charleston on Strictly Come Dancing last weekend - with the help of painkillers - after agonisingly tearing his calf in training. Despite his best efforts, Stefan was forced to withdraw from the show hours after being saved by the public as he could no longer continue on with his injury. Speaking to the Mirror at the Pride of Britain Awards on Tuesday, the Neighbours star joined the cast of Strictly 2025 hours after his shock exit. "I just feel like I've let everyone down," he said. "They all say I haven't, of course, and the pros know all about injuries, but it feels like a shame to go out in this way. It was all going so well. When you go out, you want it to be because the viewers have spoken, because it's your time, not like this.", said the soap star. The news was a particularly upsetting blow for Stefan as the news came after viewers saw Chris Robshaw and his partner Nadiya Bychkova get voted out. Stefan has now revealed he begged producers to let Chris return to the competition in his place. "I said they should keep Chris in now that I'm going but they said they couldn't do that - once you've gone, you've gone." Two exits in two days could lead to just three pairings in the live final in December - provided no one else gets injured along the way. "That's what has happened before I believe," says Stefan. The Neighbours star, who is the eldest competitor this year but maintains his fitness through extreme sports during his spare time, explained he's unsure exactly when the muscle injury occurred. "It happened at the end of last week, it was nothing specific, we'd been training as usual and it just started hurting. When I got it checked they said I'd ripped my calf muscle. I got through Saturday night's show on a truck load of painkillers. They took the edge off a little bit - but not much! I'm still not sure how we got through that routine." One possible explanation was that attention was focused on his "brilliant teacher" Dianne, who performed a cartwheel during their performance whilst five months pregnant. Dianne, who has stood by her choice to keep dancing whilst awaiting her first child with long-term boyfriend Joe Sugg, will now enjoy a much-needed rest as she approaches the final stages of her pregnancy . "I thought I'd be able to carry on but they said absolutely not," Stefan admitted. "The muscle needs complete rest. So that's me done unfortunately." He praised the overwhelming support and compassion he'd been shown by his fellow contestants this series. "Strictly is this huge machine. And we've all got so close, it doesn't feel like a competition, we all just want each other to do well, every time." Announcing his exit on Monday, he posted on social media: ""I was told that on Saturday I had torn my calf so significantly that I am now forced to withdraw from the show. I owe both the Strictly Family and Dianne a massive debt of gratitude for giving me the opportunity to fulfil my dream of being able to dance with my wife. (When my leg is better). "". Stefan - whose soap character Paul Robinson lost a leg in a cliff fall - said he was "gutted" about leaving the show due to injury, especially after he and pro partner Dianne Buswell scored 26 points for their entertaining Charleston, their highest score of the series so far, and he feels like he's letting everyone down. His wife of 25 years, Gail Easdale, is also upset that he won't be able to return home until next month due to medical advice against air travel. "I can't fly for another two weeks because of the risk of deep vein thrombosis which my wife is pretty upset about," he explained. His withdrawal follows his absence from week three of the competition due to an unrelated illness. "I had a little bit of a turn, a little bit of an episode with vertigo," he shared at the time. "But it was all OK, I made myself right again with the help of some good people at the hospital."
