Bone of contention

IT HAS DESTROYED relationships, led to a catalogue of injuries from broken bones to a heart scare and brought unwelcome attention to the private lives of its contestants.

Now, the curse of Strictly Come Dancing has struck again after supermodel Jodie Kidd fractured one of her ribs during a complicated dance routine.

The 30-year-old injured herself while rehearsing the American Smooth dance with her professional partner Ian Waite. But she has ignored her doctor's advice to rest and vowed to continue her gruelling regime on the programme.

The 6ft 2in star has spent the past fortnight undergoing intensive physiotherapy at a private Harley Street clinic and is taking anti-inflammatory pills to ease the pain. The BBC, which has a full-time doctor on the set of ‘Strictly Come Dancing,’ offered Jodie free physiotherapy, but she chose to see her own doctor instead.

Despite her agony, the model-turned-presenter on Saturday performed a complicated paso doble.

A source on the BBC1 show said: “Jodie injured herself pretty badly while training to do the American Smooth dance two weeks ago. It was a very challenging routine with a couple of tough lifts.

“During one of them, Ian held Jodie a little too tightly and fractured her rib. At the time she didn't realise how bad the injury was but as the week wore on she felt very sore and short of breath. Her chest was very tight and she decided to have things checked out.

“She had an X-ray, which found a hairline fracture to one of her left ribs. Jodie was upset because she didn't want to have to pull out of the show. She insisted on doing the dance last Saturday. She was thrown around and no one knew she was in huge amounts of pain.

“Ian is feeling guilty as it was a case of him not realising his own strength. He has been going to physio with her and doing everything he can to make Jodie comfortable while they are rehearsing.”

Despite the injury, Jodie has spent the past week rehearsing for four hours a day. The source added: “She is naturally fit, so is hoping to make a good recovery.”

A spokesman for the model confirmed her fractured rib.