Strictly’s Oti Mabuse ‘feared for her life’ teaching Kelvin Fletcher lifts

In order to ensure herself and Kelvin Fletcher sailed through to the pivotal week in the competition, Strictly pro Oti Mabuse added a few risky lifts to their routine last Saturday – which made her “fear for her life” as the former Emmerdale star spun her around his head.

Explaining the death-defying lifts to Zoe Ball on It Takes Two last night, Mabuse said: “At that point of the competition, we’re all trying to push each other.

“When you get lifts, you can be like, ‘How do I make these lifts scary and just impossible?’

“[Kelvin] just kept getting better and better. [After the lift] I was like, ‘What was I thinking? I’m never doing that again! It was too much.’”

When Ball cheekily joked whether Mabuse was 'fearing for her life' during their salsa to Let’s Hear It For the Boys, she replied: “I was! Because with Kelvin, every week he starts really slow, then he just progresses incredibly.

“So when we were doing it, we were doing it really slow. Come Wednesday he goes faster and I almost fly across the room. I was like, ‘No, don’t let me go! We had to adjust it.’”

However, the risk paid off for the pair, who finished third on the leaderboard and saw judge Craig Revel-Horwood deem Fletcher “hip-tastic.”

It’s been a dangerous series of Strictly, with two of our celebrities forced to bow out of proceedings after sustaining injuries.

Jamie Laing withdrew before the competition even started after hurting his foot in rehearsals, while Will Bayley quit the show after injuring his knee during Halloween Week practice.

Our professionals have also found themselves benched, with Neil Jones having to miss two performances with partner Alex Scott after suffering from a grade one sprain.

Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday at 7:05pm on BBC One