Neil Jones has confirmed that he will not dance in the upcoming Strictly Come Dancing show due to an ongoing muscle injury.
The professional announced that he is still nursing a muscle injury and will not compete alongside Alex Scott.
She will instead be partnered for the second time by last year’s winner Kevin Clifton.
"You nail the dance, go through, and I'll be ready for you Monday morning…"
We hope you recover soon @Mr_NJones!
Our hero of the hour @keviclifton will be stepping in again to partner @AlexScott on #Strictly this weekend for their American Smooth! pic.twitter.com/jsKHfSttNq
— BBC Strictly ✨ (@bbcstrictly) November 1, 2019
Jones announced on Strictly: It Takes Two that he would be ready to train again on Monday, assuming his celebrity partner makes it through the weekend.
He said: “I won’t be dancing. I’ve tried, but it’s just not ready yet.
“I’ll be fine if I rest it this weekend.”
He added to Scott: “You nail the dance, go through, then I’m ready on Monday morning.”
The former Arsenal player said that it had been a challenging week without her usual partner, but she is lucky to still be dancing.
She said: “It has been a strange week to be honest.
“My partner, I’m used to him. It’s really different dancing with someone else.
“I can sit here and moan. Poor Will doesn’t get to dance.”
Clifton said that his temporary partner has been “fantastic” and he hopes to keep her in the competition long enough to return to Jones.
He and Scott will dance the American Smooth in the next instalment of Strictly, which airs on BBC One this Saturday.