Janette Manara has broken her silence after Paralympian Will Bayley claimed she made him repeat a jump that led to a lifelong injury, amid the latest drama from the ‘fatally marred’ show
A BBC spokesperson for the It Takes Two presenter said the professional dancer had never received any complaints” regarding her training methods.
Table tennis player Will, 36, claimed he suffered a life-long injury while jumping during a performance on the show and blamed his then partner Janette.
A representative for Janette told the BBC: ‘Janette had a great time dancing with Will and one of her favourite moments on the show was making her contemporary partner choice.
‘The safety and enjoyment of her celebrity partner was always the priority throughout her time on Strictly.
Strictly professional athlete Janette Manrara broke her silence on Monday after Paralympian Will Bayley claimed she made him repeat a jump that left him with a lifelong injury, amid the latest drama over a “fatally marred” programme (file image)
A BBC spokesperson for the It Takes Two presenter said the professional dancer had never received any complaints “regarding her training methods”.
Will was born with arthrogryposis, which limits the range of motion in his limb joints and completed the movement with his knees straight.
‘Janette has never received any complaints and has maintained friendships with all her classmates, including Will.’
Will was born with arthrogryposis, a condition that limits the range of motion of the joints in his limbs, and completed the movement with his knees straight. Over the weekend, he spoke about the daily pain he endures.
A clip resurfaced and aired during that year’s live shows and showed the devastating moment Will was curled up on the floor in pain after the jump.
In the video, Tess can be heard explaining that Will had been injured and would not be dancing that week, while the athlete was shown lying on the ground in agony with a doctor crouched over helping him with first aid.
Janette also looked visibly distressed as she sat comforting her celebrity partner. In a later part of the video, Janette was comforted by fellow professional dancer Nancy Xu.
“I jumped off the table and when I landed, I landed with my legs stretched out,” Will told VT at the time.
‘I thought I had broken my leg because I had never felt anything like that before, but luckily it’s not as serious as I first thought.
“Hearing the words ‘I can’t dance at all’ is really heartbreaking for me, but I need to recover now and come back even stronger next week.”
Will was given a one-week pass before having to withdraw from the competition altogether when his injury meant he would have to miss another live show.
Recalling the “horrible pain” he experienced when he fell to the ground, the gold medallist admitted he thought “his whole career was over”.
Earlier on Monday, the BBC broke its silence following claims made by Paralympian Will over the weekend.
Will was left with excruciating pain in his knee after competing on the series.
The BBC said: “We have long-standing protocols in place to deal with injuries if they occur and that includes contestants receiving all necessary treatment and support as required.”
Will was forced to retire early when he heard his leg “crack” on his second attempt to jump off a table at studio rehearsals, after Janette (pictured in June) said his first was “rubbish”.
A clip resurfaced and aired during that year’s live shows and showed the devastating moment Will was curled up on the floor in pain after the jump.
The BBC said: “We have long-standing protocols in place to deal with injuries if they occur and that includes contestants receiving all necessary treatment and support as required.”
Speaking to SunWill said:We practiced a couple of times and I was very careful. But then Janette said that my jump was “rubbish” and that I needed to smile more, try and show some passion.
Determined to improve, the athlete ‘went for it all’ but experienced ‘‘the most horrible pain.’
“I was lying on the ground thinking my race was over. I heard my leg cracking, I couldn’t breathe,” he said.
“I’ll never recover from that injury, it’s lifelong. I already have a limiting disability, but on top of that, I wake up in the morning and it hurts. Now I can only train for a couple of hours before it hurts.”
Will explained that he “didn’t have any problems with Janette” but that he felt she was under pressure from the show’s bosses. They have remained friends since they were on the show.
A BBC spokesperson said: “We will not comment on individual people or engage in speculation. However, as we have said previously, we will always listen if people want to report something to us or raise it directly with us and we have appropriate procedures and processes in place to manage this.”
Recalling the “terrible pain” he experienced when he fell to the ground, the gold medallist admitted he thought “his whole career was over”.
“I will never recover from that injury, it’s lifelong. I already have a limiting disability, but on top of that, I wake up in the morning and it hurts,” he said.
At the time of his injury, Will praised his dance partner Janette for being “like a rock” after their “amazing experience” came to an end, leaving her in tears.
He described hearing a pop in his knee and thinking he had broken his leg before a doctor told him he had torn his ACL.
Appearing on the show as part of the audience, Will said: ‘I’m so gutted but it’s so good to be here to support everyone, everyone is killing it tonight.’
‘I feel like I’ve had the most support throughout this whole process, the least I can do is come back and be proud to see them.’
She added: “It’s getting closer. I want to see what it’s like in a couple of weeks, but I’ll be there in Tokyo. I want to try to win that gold medal again.”
“The highlight of my life has been having my partner Janette, she has been like my rock, I can’t speak highly enough of her.”
After recovering from his injury, Will won individual and team silver at the rearranged Tokyo 2020 Games in 2021.
After recovering from his injury, Will won individual and team silver at the rearranged Tokyo 2020 Games in 2021 (pictured this month).
