DEVASTATED Tony Adams has been forced to quit Strictly Come Dancing after a shock injury.
The 56-year-old made it through to week eight of the BBC show along with dance partner Katya Jones.
Tonight host Tess Daly revealed his dramatic departure after he found himself bottom of the leaderboard on Saturday night.
She told stunned Strictly viewers: “Due to an injury sustained on Saturday night, Tony is unable to take part in the dance off and has decided to withdraw from the competition.
“This means there will be no dance off tonight and Tyler and Dianne are through to Blackpool.”
Tony‘s exit was filmed last night after the live show in which he and Katya performed a jive to Land Of 1,000 Dances by Wilson Pickett.
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Following the 1960s-inspired routine starting, in which the ex-footballer performed a roly poly, Tony was in “a lot of pain”.
A TV insider told The Sun: “The star was clearly in a lot of pain and discomfort, which only really kicked in afterwards.
“They are was obviously hugely upset because they were desperate to make it through to Blackpool week.
“The contestant in question was consoled by family and friends in the audience and needed to be comforted.”
When asked by Tess about his time on the show, the former football manager and player, who has been sober for 26 years, said: “It’s been emotional guys, I cried for the first month.
“I came in here with one message, if you’ve got an issue with mental health then please don’t suffer in silence and reach out for help.
“Little did I know that I was going to learn a lot about myself in the process. I thought this ‘journey’ rubbish was nonsense, but my god the rollercoaster of emotion. I’ve got to be honest, it’s tough,
physically it’s really tough out there, but dancing is really fantastic for you.
“Go out there and enjoy it and pick up new skills and explore. I suppose I had better mention this one (Katya) hadn’t I, she is an
exceptional human being, she really is.”
Despite his injury the beloved contestant was hoisted into the air by his Strictly co-stars as his exit music played.
Some Strictly viewers felt Tony only made it this far in the competition because of his support from Arsenal fans.
One viewer last week labelled Tony’s progress a “disgrace”, suggesting he only remains in the show because loyal Arsenal fans keep voting for their former captain.
His performance last night was branded a “disaster” by Craig Revel Horwood.
Saturday night’s live show saw Fleur East top the leaderboard as the nine remaining couples battled for a place in next week’s Blackpool special.
Meanwhile Hamza Yassin made judge Motsi Mabuse cry with his Afro-beats inspired performance.
TV personality Hamza and his professional dance partner Jowita Przystal danced a couple’s choice to the remix of Jerusalema by Master KG featuring Burna Boy and Nomcebo Zikode.
The wildlife documentary cameraman was in floods of tears following the performance, which was dedicated to his Sudanese and African heritage.
South Africa-raised Motsi Mabuse also cried as she gushed that she never thought she would see this kind of performance on the show.
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Praising the story behind the performance, Motsi acknowledged that the dance couple had made history on the show, stating: “It’s a very difficult dance to speak about,
“I feel like maybe sometimes even some people will not even understand”
