Robert Webb confirms he's not returning for Strictly Come Dancing final

Robert Webb has confirmed he "politely declined" the chance to return to 'Strictly Come Dancing' for this weekend's final.

The 'Peep Show' star was forced to drop out of the current series after three weeks because training proved too intense while he was still recovering from heart surgery, and although he's insisted he loved being part of the show, he can't risk his health by taking part in a group dance with professional partner Dianne Buswell and the other couples on Saturday (18.12.21).

In his first Instagram post since announcing his departure in October, he 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.

"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. Dianne & Joe came over for lunch a few weeks ago and m’partner gets it.

"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."

The 49-year-old comic joked his early exit had "b****** up" the format of the show but insisted he wasn't to blame for Rhys Stephenson departing the competition last weekend.

He added: "More generally, I’m sorry that my departure b******* 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(sic)"