'He's gutted, but hopes to make a triumphant return': Brendan Cole will NOT appear on this week's Strictly as he recovers from a lung infection

Brendan Cole's spokesperson confirmed to MailOnline he will not appear on Saturday's live show after contracting a lung infection
He is bowing out of this week's dance under doctor's orders amid concerns he is susceptible to pneumonia following a bout earlier this year
The show stalwart, 40, has choreographed a dance which his partner Anastacia will perform with stand-in professional Gorka Marquez

PUBLISHED: 16:23, 21 October 2016 | UPDATED: 17:26, 21 October 2016

Brendan Cole will not appear on week’s Strictly Come Dancing live show after doctors said he had to rest or risk contracting pneumonia.

The professional dancer, who is dancing alongside singer Anastacia, has spent the entire week away from training, on rest after contracting a lung infection at the end of last week.

Standing in for Brendan to dance with Anastacia will be fellow professional Gorka Marquez, who will perform the moves Brendan choreographed.

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Getting better: Brendan Cole will not appear on week’s Strictly Come Dancing live show after doctors said he had to rest or risk contracting pneumonia

Brendan's doctor explained that if the 40-year-old dancer pushes his body too far he could once again contract pneumonia as he did earlier in the year on his UK solo tour and fall more ill.

A spokesperson for Brendan confirmed: 'He’s resting on Doctors orders but everybody hopes the rest will enable a return to form for Brendan in next week’s competition.'

A source close to Brendan, who will once again hit the road for his solo ‘All Night Long’ Tour in January through until April in the UK, tells MailOnline: 'Brendan’s gutted not to be able to dance this weekend. Anastacia and him have worked extremely hard and overcome a lot of hurdles to get where they’re at in the competition.

'Brendan’s a perfectionist and extremely hard working so for him to have to take a back seat has been very difficult indeed. He has to be careful and listen to his body and a lung infection like he has is no laughing matter. He’s been resting as much as possible on doctor’s orders.

Sad stuff: The professional dancer, who is dancing alongside singer Anastacia, has spent the entire week away from training, on rest after contracting a lung infection at the end of last week

Overdid it? The professional dancer, who is dancing alongside singer Anastacia, has spent the entire week away from training, on rest after contracting a lung infection at the end of last week

'Obviously he’s still be very much involved but he’s had no choice but to take a back seat. He cannot wait to get back into the competition for the next week and hopes that Anastacia and Gorka manage to get through to perform again.

'With all the problems the couple have faced this year with Anastacia’s injuries it really is a pain that Brendan’s been taken ill now. But they’re both troopers and they hope to make a triumphant return next week.'

Earlier in the day, before his absence was revealed, Brendan set the record straight about the state of his health after being rushed to hospital with a lung infection last Saturday.

In a statement on his website he wrote: 'After a second visit to a doctor, more tests were done and a full examination. The Doctor advised me to have complete rest as it would be very easy (given the pneumonia earlier this year) for my chest infection to become worse.

Hoping to make it: Brendan said he still wanted to compete on Saturday if he feels better -

'If the antibiotics do their job and I do have the appropriate rest, we can make a decision on Friday as to whether I can take part in this weekend's Strictly or not!'

Despite being taken to hospital, Brendan proved he was ever the professional as he later returned to the dance floor with partner Anastacia just hours later as they performed the rumba on Strictly Come Dancing.

In his statement entitled 'I'm ill but not out', the 40-year-old professional dancer disputed reports that he'd seemed short of breath after the performance as he clutched his chest whilst listening to the judges' comments.

'All I was trying to do was cover my microphone so as not to cough down it to a few million people watching at home - I know, I'm so considerate,' he wrote.

Still very much alive: Brendan took to Twitter to prove he had not passed away

Acrobatic: Brendan and Anastacia in happier times on the dance floor

Brendan's partner Anastacia has been temporarily paired with Gorka Marquez who may well take his place this weekend.

'So far they are doing very well and continuing to train hard gearing up for Saturday,' Brendan added in his statement, 'All being well I will be back on the dancefloor this weekend with Anastacia and we (with Gorka's brilliant help) can put in a great performance as if nothing has happened.

'Should I not be ready, Gorka and Anastacia will perform their quickstep with me cheering them on from Claudia's sofa or my own.'

Time out: Brendan has now been temporarily replaced as Anastacia's partner

His chest infection also somewhat bizarrely prompted reports that he had passed away, leading Brendan to take to Twitter on Friday with several bemused tweets.

‘OK…very disturbing,’ Brendan commented. ‘I have just been informed that I am dead!’ – going on to add that he was ‘horrified and bemused’ by the news.

He went on to add: ‘I’m still very much alive! Report yesterday of me having died...very much untrue! lol'

New partner: Anastacia is now rehearsing with Gorka Marquez, who previously danced with Tameka Empson

Meanwhile, Anastacia has a new 'spring in her step' with Gorka, according to It Takes Two pro Ian Waite.

'It must be nice to change your partner half way through!' Ian joked on the Strictly spin-off show It Takes Two.

'I do think they are very compatible,' Ian said after reviewing footage of the pair rehearsing together. 'They have very similar proportions and their leg lengths match. If they can get it together, they will be really good!'

Giving thanks: Brendan took to his Twitter account last Saturday to let fans know he was still well enough to compete on the show and praised the NHS staff who cared for him

Gorka has been practising with Anastacia to make sure she is ready to perform the routine.

Meanwhile, Anastacia dismissed rumours she and Brendan's relationship had become strained after they finished in the bottom two of show two.

The singer previously told MailOnline: 'I am having a blast with Brendan and I feel so lucky that I got partnered with him. I am very excited about what we are doing this week, just you wait and see!'

Making moves: Anastasia, 48, was also on fine form last weekend despite recently tearing the stitches from a mastectomy

It's been a difficult start to the competition for the pair, with Anastacia's mastectomy scars tearing and forcing the couple to alter their routines.

The pairing made Strictly history in week two when injured Anastacia was unable to compete in the dance-off, leading producers to call-off the decider for the first time in the show's history.

Anastacia warned before the competition began that her operations might affect her ability to do the most energetic moves, as her arm movement has been restricted.

She said: 'My operation was kind of a radical one. I had to take my muscles from my back and put them on my front. So my arm movement is very interesting, shall I say.'

Brendan’s All Night Long tour runs from January - April – ticket details at www.brendancole.com

Unavoidable: The pairing made Strictly history in week two when injured Anastacia was unable to compete in the dance-off, leading producers to call-off the decider for the first time

Brendan Cole's statement in full

It's been an interesting week. Many reports going around about the seriousness and implications of my health issue, so here I am setting the record straight about what happened and is happening this week.

Last week, as the season changed into Autumn, I, like many across the UK developed a bit of a cold. As it was just a cold, I continued practicing with Anastacia leading up to our Rumba on Strictly last Saturday. As the week went on I got a little worse and by Thursday it had annoyingly gone to my chest. After suffering a Pneumonia in February of this year during my tour, I guess my lungs weren't up to full strength and my immune system not quite ready to deal with what would normally be just an innocuous cough.

On Saturday morning in the small hours, I was finding it difficult to get enough oxygen into my lungs and was getting worried that maybe my cough was turning back into what I had in February which had me in and out of hospital over three nights. Because of this I decided to drive myself to the A&E to get checked out and make sure it was not a serious chest infection and end up in the same situation all over again (many reports saying that I was rushed to A&E). So far from rushing, I simply popped down as I needed some oxygen and my GP wasn't available at 2am! Turns out my Blood/Oxygen saturation was 93% so I was probably right to do so.

The hospital looked after me very well and I went home a few hours later, diagnosed with a minor chest infection to be delt (sic) with in the normal way. Later that day Anastacia and I danced our Rumba on the live show which was not too much of a problem as it was a nice slow one... a Quickstep may have been a different story! During both the Saturday show and the results show, it was reported by various publications that I was clearly seen clutching at my chest in a bid to breathe. Again... this was not the reality at all. All I was trying to do was cover my microphone so as not to cough down it to a few million people watching at home - I know, I'm so considerate ;)

Anyway, this information brings me to this week. After a second visit to a doctor, more tests were done and a full examination. The Doctor advised me to have complete rest as it would be very easy (given the pneumonia earlier this year) for my chest infection to become worse. If the antibiotics do their job and I do have the appropriate rest, we can make a decision on Friday as to whether I can take part in this weekend's Strictly or not! With this information I am pleased to say that I am following his advice and the lovely Gorka Marquez is stepping into my dancing shoes to train with Anastacia whilst I am recovering. So far they are doing very well and continuing to train hard gearing up for Saturday. All being well I will be back on the dancefloor this weekend with Anastacia and we (with Gorka's brilliant help) can put in a great performance as if nothing has happened. Should I not be ready, Gorka and Anastacia will perform their quickstep with me cheering them on from Claudia's sofa or my own.

Fingers crossed all will be ok as I am feeling a little better today (Wednesday) finally!

Thanks for all of your lovely messages of concern via social media, it's lovely to have all of your support. Let's hope Anastacia, Gorka and I can do a great job on Saturday and get ourselves through to Halloween week (which is usually my favourite of the series)!

Brendan X

Strictly Come Dancing star Brendan Cole REPLACED following illness - with Anastacia set to dance with Gorka Marquez - Mirror Online

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Friday, 21 October 2016

Brendan Cole will NOT appear on this week's Strictly as he recovers from a lung infection

'He's gutted, but hopes to make a triumphant return': Brendan Cole will NOT appear on this week's Strictly as he recovers from a lung infection

Brendan Cole's statement in full