Strictly’s AJ Odudu and Kai Widdrington break down in tears in first TV appearance

Strictly Come Dancing’s front-runner AJ Odudu and Kai Widdrington broke down in tears in a joint appearance on It Takes Two. 

AJ Odudu and Kai Widdrington appeared on It Takes Two on Friday night to discuss their decision to withdraw from the Strictly Come Dancing final owing to an ankle injury.

The pair were due to perform in Saturday night’s final and be in with a chance of scooping the glitterball trophy, but have been forced to quit after TV star AJ injured her ankle.

AJ, 33, and Kai, 26, broke down in tears when talking to Rylan Clark-Neal about their anguish over leaving the show. 

She said, “Do you know what, we had the best time and on Monday we rehearsed and we were just excited like, ‘Right, we're going to do the jive, we're going to do the Charleston, what a way to end our experience.'”

But sadly their joy was short-lived as AJ was soon in 'acute pain'.

Explaining more about how the injury came out, she said, “My ankle's given way and my ligament has ruptured and it's just not gonna happen. We're gutted because we were ready to smash it.

“This isn't the way that we wanted to go out, obviously, but even just looking back at all of those moments, it's just been an absolute pleasure dancing with Kai every single week, so thank you.”

Reflecting on their journey, Kai—whose first year it is on Strictly—added, “We were really hoping that we were going to get over the line and dance in the final. 

“At the end of the day, AJ’s health is number one concern. Although we won’t be dancing in the final, we still earned our place in the final.”

Thankfully the couple can look back on scoring a perfect 40 last week. Kai confessed, “We went out on a high”

But one thing viewers couldn’t fail to notice was how cosy the pair looked on the sofa, following weeks of romance rumours. 

One viewer tweeted, “Kai ‘I never cry’ Widdrington crying after him and aj got a perfect 40 for their quickstep and in their it takes two interview tonight…he cares about her so much.”

While another said, “I was so wrong about Aj and Kai, I can really see their chemistry now and seeing them on Strictly It Takes Two #Strictly #StrictlyComeDancing.”

AJ’s departure leaves EastEnders Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice and John Whaite and Johannes Radebe battling it out to win the show.

Watch the final of Strictly Come Dancing, tonight at 7pm on BBC1.