DANCING On Ice star Greg Rutherford has revealed a nasty injury that could throw this weekend’s show into chaos.
The Olympic long-jump champion, who is dancing with pro skater Vanessa James, said he pulled his groin during training this week.
The field athlete, 37, shared his concerns ahead of this Sunday’s live show and said: “I just hope it doesn’t get any worse”.
Appearing on Alexis Conran & Friends on Thursday, Greg also opened up about being forced to retire in 2017 due to injuries, which can recur from time to time.
He said: “My body isn’t what it once was anyway.
“And I had to retire due to injuries anyway. So it’s very tough.”
He continued: “And the thing is, you never lose the mindset of what you have.
“So in training and everything else, you’ll always push yourself.
“But the problem is things like this then take place and then you deal with it again, which is less than ideal.”
Alexis asked: “Are you worried it’s going to impact your journey in the show?”
Greg replied: “A little bit, yeah we’ll see, we’re having to push through to this weekend, I’m 100% going to be fine for the weekend.
“I just hope it doesn’t get any worse. If it doesn’t get any worse I’ll be fine.”
Greg has been up against early favourites Eddie “the Eagle” Edwards, Love Islander Amber Davies, and former Corrie actor Ryan Thomas and got third place on the leaderboard for every skate.
Greg told HOAR last week: “Vanessa is considered one of the best female pair skaters in the world.
“When it got announced she was my partner, I was watching all of her Olympic routines, when she became European champion, everything, just to get my head around what she does.
“I panic about hurting her. I’m a tall guy, there’s a long way for her to fall.”
He won Olympic gold in 2012 and bronze at Rio in 2016, then more golds in the World Championships and Commonwealth Games.
Injury spelled the end of his athletics career in 2017.
Four years later he joined the bobsleigh set-up vying for Beijing 2022, having started training during lockdown.
But his crew were unsuccessful in qualifying and it left Greg with an injury.
Dancing On Ice is the first time Greg has trained seriously since, and he is reaping the rewards.
He said: “When I had my neck injury doing the bobsleigh, I effectively couldn’t train any more, and then I spent a year or so not really training very much.
“I’ve been a bit lazy, if you like.
“Now I’ve got a great reason to train, I’m cracking on and I’m loving it again.”
