James Cracknell, 47, has spoken out to deny claims he “furiously ranted” backstage after he was revealed to be the first celebrity to leave Strictly Come Dancing 2019. According to The Sun, the Olympic rower “had to be calmed down” as he was reportedly heard saying: “I wish I’d never done this show.” He hit back at the reports in a statement in view of his 36,000 Instagram followers: “I don’t reply to people’s comments but I’m not gonna let this one go. @LubaMushtuk & I had fun & our best dance but it wasn’t enough.
“I know I’m no John Travolta so to throw my toys out the pram would be stupid @TheSun @bbcstrictly.”(sic)
The reports come after the athlete and his professional dance partner Luba Mushtuk, 29, were voted out of the competition by the judges tonight following a dance-off with David James, 49, and Nadiya Bychkova, 30.
James was at the bottom of the leaderboard for the second week running on Saturday night after his Jive received 13 points.
Express.co.uk has contacted representatives for James and Strictly Come Dancing for comment.
James was also very positive about his experience on the programme in an earlier post on Instagram this evening.
The sportsman shared a screen grab of himself smiling as he took on the Jive on Saturday’s live show with Luba, alongside a caption which read: “James… he looks so happy!”
James captioned the photo: “Not the most appropriate screen grab but perfectly sums up my time on @bbcstrictly.
“I want to thank you @LubaMushtuk for being the most amazing partner/teacher/choreographer sadly you’re not a miracle worker.”
The star went on to admit he knew he wasn’t a dancer, but took part in the show because he wanted to stop “avoiding things” he is “bad at”.
James continued: “I’m no dancer (& knew it), I’ve always avoided things I know I’d be bad at, but I wanted that to stop.
“I had fun & learned a lot about myself thanks Luba @bbcstrictly & the class of 2019, keep kicking a** gang!”