The Strictly Come Dancing final is due to take place on Saturday evening (18th December 2021). This year’s show will see all the contestants of this series come together for one final dance but one person will be missing.
Peep Show actor Robert Webb has confirmed that he will not be attending. Earlier in the competition, the 49-year-old was forced to pull out just weeks in due to an illness and on Tuesday he told fans that he has “politely declined” the opportunity to return for the final.
Writing alongside a lunchbox with his and his professional partner Dianne Buswell’s photograph on it, he told wrote: "Hullo! I seem to have switched from public to private mode and one of the effects of this is people will inevitably find their own ways to interpret my 'silence'. It isn't really silence, of course. It's just doing other stuff.
"But I thought I ought to pipe up because I won't be in the group dance of the Strictly final this Sat and I didn't want my absence (or my 'silence' about it) to be taken as evidence of any kind of bad feeling towards the show."
He went on to say that he had had Dianne and her boyfriend Joe Sugg, over to lunch a few weeks ago and that "m'partner gets it".
"My love for Strictly is a season that is forever summer. However, the producers understood that when I had to stop, I had to stop completely," he added.
"If I gave out a few more details about what the show had been doing to me physically & mentally, you wouldn't be surprised that the offer of one more dance was politely declined.
Addressing the criticism he has received from Strictly fans because now there are only three couples in the final instead of the usual four, he explained: "More generally, I'm sorry that my departure buggered up the format so there are only 3 couples in the final (a lot of angry Rhys fans out there - guys, you do know that if I'd tried to do week 4 but had then dropped dead during the show, it would *still* be a three-couple final, yeah?)
"So anyway, the headlines are: sorry about everything, I'm not doing the thing, I'm fine now btw, and do enjoy the final which will obviously be brilliant because they're all brilliant. See ya! X."
