CHOP FOR STRICTLY BRENDAN
STRICTLY star Brendan Cole rushed into A&E for the second time in three months after almost chopping a finger off.
The popular dancer put his hand on a razor-sharp chop saw while carrying out some home improvements during downtime from the hit BBC show.
Married Brendan, 40, revealed: “I was putting a new front on our house and after I put the chop saw down it whacked a chunk off my finger.”
In February Brendan landed in casualty after a severe bout of flu. It forced him to pull out of a performance of his touring show, A Night to Remember in Stoke-on-Trent.
The DIY blunder is not the first time the New Zealand pro – a staple on Strictly since it began in 2004 – has dramatically come a cropper.
In 2012 he hit a wall at 73mph as he raced a sports car during a charity fundraiser when his brakes failed.
He said: “It was one of those moments when you think, ‘Oh no, how will this end? It could have been catastrophic.
“Luckily I was able to walk away although I hurt my leg quite a lot and was on crutches.”
Chill
Brendan, who lives in Aylesbury, Bucks, with wife Zoe and their daughter Aurelia, has been recovering from his latest brush with disaster in Mallorca, Spain, where the couple have a home. Model Zoe, 35, said: “We will be spending more time there. I can’t bear the weather here in the UK. “It’s full- on for eight months with Strictly then the live shows, so it’s a place where we can chill out.” Brendan added he will move t he f amily t o Mallorca permanently when he finally hangs up his dancing shoes. Despite calls for the BBC to invest in new programming, he vows Strictly will remain one of it’s flagship shows. He said: “Of course Strictly will stay on the BBC. That is it’s home. “I’ve not heard any news about the new series but Paul Burrell would be entertaining. “Someone said Laura Whitmore, s he would be good. “They have mentioned James Corden but I can’t see him coming back from America to do Strictly.”