Strictly Come Dancing's Robert Webb pulls out of final and apologises for change – read statement
The Strictly Come Dancing final on Saturday will see all of this year's celebrity contestants come together for one last group dance, but one star will be noticeably missing, Robert Webb.
MORE: Why has Robert Webb left Strictly? His heart condition and recent operation revealed
The actor, 49, had to withdraw from the dance competition just a few weeks in because of ill health and on Tuesday he told fans he "politely declined" the offer to return for one last dance.
MORE: Dianne Buswell surprises Robert Webb with incredible Strictly-inspired birthday cake
Writing alongside a lunchbox with his and his professional partner Dianne Buswell, he told fans: "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.
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"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."
Robert revealed the news alongside a picture of a lunchbox with his and Dianne's face on it
He later revealed that he recently had lunch with Dianne and her boyfriend Joe Sugg 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.
The Peep Show star sadly left the competition back in October
Addressing the criticism his exit 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."
