Strictly Come Dancing professional Janette Manrara was forced to pull out of a live show on Wednesday just hours before she was due on stage.
Manrara, who competed as a professional dancer on Strictly from 2013 until 2020, is currently starring in a UK tour of the musical Chicago, where she plays the character Roxie Hart.
At the time of writing, the production is in the middle of six nights at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens. However, Manrara was forced to pull out of Wednesday’s show (23 July) as she was too “unwell” to perform.
In a statement shared on Instagram, the 41-year-old wrote: “It takes a lot for me to miss a show, so to anyone coming to Blackpool tonight, I am deeply sorry.
“I am unwell and must rest to recover quickly and be back on stage. The cast is absolutely phenomenal, so the show will be as magical as it always is.”
Manrara ended the message by clarifying that she is “on the mend” and hopes to be back on stage soon.
Manrara quit being a professional dancer in 2021 and now co-presents the Strictly talk show It Takes Two with Fleur East.
She married fellow Strictly professional Aljaž Škorjanec in 2017. Their daughter, Lyra, was born in July 2023.
The professional dancers met in 2010 while performing in the live dance show Burn the Floor, and they wed seven years later. They starred alongside one another on the BBC’s ballroom dancing competition for many years before Manrara stepped down to take her presenting role.
After a two-year hiatus, Škorjanec returned to Strictly for the 2024 edition of the show, where he was partnered with Love Island star Tasha Ghouri.
While Manrara said she enjoyed seeing her husband perform on the series, she insisted that she would remain impartial in her job as the presenter of Strictly’s official companion show.
“It is incredible to see him back on the show, but I’ll be honest, I am not allowed favourites as host of It Takes Two, so I’m going to be looking at him the same way as I look at any other professional and celebrity on the show,” she told The One Show in September 2024.
Manrara also reflected on watching the show with their daughter, saying in an emotional moment: “I tell you it was really nice to watch him with Lyra. I had tears in my eyes because it was just so special to sit with our daughter, watching Daddy on the telly doing what he loves to do. It was amazing.”
