Ola Jordan has encouraged her husband James Jordan, 40, to “keep going” in Dancing On Ice after he revealed he “ripped open his hernia”. The former Strictly Come Dancing professional promised to “kiss it better” following his tweet, detailing the extent of his injuries. On his Twitter account, he told his 245,000 followers: “THANK YOU EVERYONE for all of your kind messages. “YES I have ripped my hernia open again but nothing will stop me performing on @dancingonice until you guys stop voting.”
He continued: “And I never said I was pulling out! I know my body very well and I will be fine… love you all.”
In response, 36-year-old Ola replied: “I will kiss it better when I get back… I mean I will kiss you not the hernia. Keep going baby.”
James, who married his former BBC One co-star in 2003, recently admitted it was “getting harder” to cope with his injuries.
He revealed all in an interview with the Daily Star yesterday, after coming second on the Dancing On Ice 2019 leaderboard last Sunday.
“I’ve ripped open my hernia,” James told the newspaper. “I’ve also got lower back pain because of it.”
He added: “I’m falling to bits, managing injuries is getting harder as you get older.”
The Celebrity Coach Trip star underwent an operation for a double hernia in 2017 and recently shared a picture of himself in his hospital bed on Instagram.
In December, he wrote: “One year ago today I had my double hernia operation. Here’s me just before surgery.
“Amazing what can happen in one year… we were both devastated to have to cancel our Tour, but I’ve always said the old saying ‘one door closes but another will always open.
“Now I’m preparing for @dancingonice and I’m so excited to show you all how hard I’ve been working.”
James is one of the favourites to win Dancing On Ice 2019, but he faces tough competition from Love Island’s Wes Nelson.
Wes, 20, is odds on at 2-5 with bookmaker Coral to win the ITV contest after breezing through to the semi-finals.
He has topped the leaderboard the last two weeks and is miles ahead of James (3-1) in the betting.
Coral’s spokesman Harry Aitkenhead said: “We had made Wes one of the favourites to go all the way before Dancing on Ice 2019 even hit our screens but his last two weeks have sent him firmly odds on now to win the show.
“He’s topped the table for the last two weeks and now it has reached the stage where it would be a surprise if he didn’t win it.”
“It certainly looks a two horse race and Bryan and Saara face a huge task if there are to get anywhere near to lifting the trophy at the end of the series,” he added.
Dancing On Ice 2019 continues tonight on ITV at 6pm.