BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing is celebrating Icons Week on Saturday night's show, with performances inspired by the likes of Elton John, Shania Twain, Mariah Carey, and James Brown. Although the theme is relatively new to Strictly - debuting on the program in 2024 - it has been moved forward this year as the series looks to shake things up with less of a gap between theme weeks.
However, Strictly will be down on two couples this weekend, but only one of those absences is due to Melanie and Aljaž's elimination in Week 3. Leaderboard leaders Delta Goodrem and Kai Widdrington won't be dancing this week due to injury, temporarily ending their streak of high-performing routines.
Delta and Kai will hopefully return to Strictly next week
Delta Goodrem suffered a rib injury during training and will therefore be unable to compete on Strictly Come Dancing's Icons Week. In line with the show's long-standing rules, she and partner Kai will be granted a one-week bye that will allow Delta to recover and hopefully return strong next week.
A BBC spokesperson said in a statement (which was also posted to the official BBC Strictly Instagram account):
"Due to injury, Delta Goodrem has been advised by doctors to rest and, as a result, will not dance on this weekend's Strictly Come Dancing. In line with the rules of the show, Delta and Kai will receive a bye through to next week when it is hoped they will be able to dance again. We wish Delta the very best as she continues her recovery."
Delta and Kai have really lit up this series of Strictly since it began just three weeks ago. They closed Week 1 with a fiery Samba that really highlighted how incredible a dancer, performer, and mover Delta is - putting her and Kai's partnership on the map. In Week 2, they danced a beautiful A Star Is Born-inspired American Smooth, which also earned them praise - helping them top the combined Leaderboard from both weeks. However, it was their Week 3 Salsa that put them on a whole new level, earning the first 9 of the series and the highest overall score of the series, too.
Delta and Kai were expected to dance the Cha Cha as part of Icons Week to "Xanadu" in honor of Olivia Newton-John, but that unfortunately won't be happening now. Considering how epic both Delta's Samba and Salsa were, we have no doubt that the Cha Cha would have been incredible, too.
Delta herself commented on the injury, thanking the fans for their support and confirming her hopes to return to the dancefloor in Week 5, saying:
"I’m absolutely gutted that a rib injury means I won’t be able to dance on Strictly this week. I’ve been loving every second of this experience, so having to sit this one out is heartbreaking - especially after the high of Saturday night. I can not tell you how much I love being a part of this magical show. I’m going to focus on resting and recovering, and hopefully I’ll be back on that dancefloor very soon. Thank you so much to everyone for all the love and support. It’s so appreciated. I’ll be cheering everyone on from the sidelines this week! Sending all my love, Delta xx"
As she said in her statement, the Australian singer and actress hopes to return to the competition next week, with Kai telling host Ellie Taylor on Strictly: It Takes Two that they have already started putting together next week's routine, announcing that they would be "slowing things down" for their dance in Week 5. He also revealed that Delta has told him that their comeback still has to be iconic.
Forget Icons Week, it's Delta Goodrem who is the icon in this situation!! We wish her a speedy recovery and hope that she and Kai can return to experience their incredible Strictly journey from next week onwards. The show would certainly suffer without them bringing their passion and energy to the dancefloor.
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