Strictly Come Dancing: Dev Griffin felt 'awful' after partner Dianne Buswell's fall

Dianne Buswell and Dev Griffin
PA
Katy Clifton11 October 2019

Dev Griffin has said he felt "awful" and "stressed out" after his Strictly Come Dancing partner Dianne Buswell suffered a fall during training last week.

The Australian professional, 30, was taken to hospital following an "accident" which occurred as the radio DJ, 34, lifted her during a routine.

Despite speculation they would not appear, the pair triumphed on Saturday's show with a score of 36 from the impressed judges.

Speaking on Strictly spin-off It Takes Two, Griffin said they had decided to remove the lift in question from their routine because he was scared he would repeat his mistake.

Dev Griffin and Dianne Buswell
PA

He told host Zoe Ball: "We had a really good week and we got to the Thursday.

"It was such a shame because it was one of the last times we were going to run it and we were just like: 'Let's just enjoy it, let's do it one last time.'

"We had this lift where Dianne is on my shoulders and we had an accident and it was just like: 'Let's take it out.'

"Mainly because I was getting so stressed out about it. It's such an awful feeling. Even though Dianne is a pro. It's happened to you loads of times. You have accidents.

"But for me I was like: 'Ah, I don't want to do it.'"

RuPaul's Drag Race judge Michelle Visage also appeared on the BBC Two show to discuss her dance this week, a salsa to Quimbara by Johnny Pacheco and Celia Cruz.

The US TV star, 51, said training with her partner Giovanni Pernice had this week been "brutal".

She said: "It's legendary. It is Celia Cruz, who is the queen, la reina, of salsa and this is the song. Every Latino and Latina will know this song.

"Brutal - really, really difficult. It's amazing and liberating and beautiful, and when it's clicked in it's great.

"But there is so much technicality in this dance. It doesn't look like it but there really is. And it's really, really fast. It makes the quickstep look like a walk in the park."

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Pernice said working on Visage's hip action had been their priority in training this week.

Last week Visage scored nines from judges Shirley Ballas, Bruno Tonioli and Motsi Mabuse, with only Craig Revel Horwood giving her an eight.

Reluctantly, Pernice said: "She was very, very good. I was very impressed. But as I said before, it could have been better."

Strictly Come Dancing continues on BBC One on Saturday.