Strictly Come Dancing star Les Dennis has expressed his sadness after discovering the death of his friend and former co-star. The 69-year-old was told the sad news just hours before he became the first contestant to leave the 2023 series of the BBC ballroom show.
The results show would have been filmed on Saturday night, with Les' early exit airing the following evening.
© Guy LevyIt was revealed on Sunday afternoon that Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels actor Jake Abraham passed away at the age of 56 after suffering from cancer.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, Les shared his condolences and retweeted a post from another account, which read: "Liverpool legend #JakeAbraham has sadly passed away to [explicit] cancer. I saw Jake around Liverpool over the years what a lovely person he was. RIP Jake."
In response, Les wrote: "Did a play at the @RoyalCourtLiv with Jake. Loved him, both as an actor and a man. Will miss you Jake. Thanks for the laughs. RIP."
Jake, who also starred in 1991 Channel 4 series GBH, and films Mean Machine and The 51st State, was diagnosed with prostate cancer earlier this year, and in July, he revealed he was receiving palliative care.
It wasn't the best weekend for Les as Sunday night's dance-off saw him and dancer partner Nancy Xu in the bottom two with BBC presenter Nikita Kanda and Gorka Marquez. When asked by co-host Tess Daly about his time on the show, Les sweetly replied: "I've had the best time, this lady has been amazing, a great teacher, she’s really put me through my paces. I did as well as I could for you, I hope!
"That lot [his fellow contestants] up there, I'm going to miss you so much. I really appreciate and understand the judge's point of view, thank you so much for giving me a 10 for entertainment. I hope I've entertained, that's what I came here for. Strictly is the best and the people who put this on, you're just all amazing!"
Dancing pro Nancy added: "It's been a journey. This is such a short but a sweet journey. A lot of challenges we all know, but to see you (to Les) every day improve yourself. "I respect you so, so much. I just want to say thank you to the judges and all my fellow friends. Thank you Strictly Come Dancing for all of your support. Thank you Les."
