Adam Thomas is currently tearing up the Strictly dancefloor with his partner Luba Mushtuk, but away from the rehearsal room, the Waterloo Road star is struggling with an ongoing health condition.
Sharing an update from hospital where he is undergoing tests for arthritis, the 35-year-old posted a photo of himself in bed with monitors on his arm, captioned: "One day I will get my arthritis under control but until then... more bloods and more doctors. Staying strong."
Adam first opened up about his condition in August, sharing he'd been suffering for months. "I've been in a lot of pain since January, it started with my knees and then travelled to my wrists, fingers and now ankles and toes. I never knew what was happening and finally after several blood tests and back and forth to doctors and hospitals, I've been diagnosed with rheumatoid Arthritis!"
© Ken McKay/ITV/ShutterstockSharing his dismay at his diagnosis so young, Adam wrote: "I thought that was something people, later on in their life get… but that's not the case, clearly! It's been a tough old year but… Finally, I'm on the right plan now! Finally getting it under control. For now!"
Speaking of how his health battle has impacted his Strictly prep, Adam said: "It's been hard not being able to train properly, it's has had a huge knock-on effect for me personally, but not only that for my family too!!"
He continued: "I know it’s going to be tough and I’ve definitely got my work cut out but am up for the challenge and cannot wait to get on that dance floor!!"
In a chat with HELLO!, he spoke candidly about his concerns, explaining: "I'm very worried about it, there's no there's no shadow of a doubt about that.
© Ray Burmiston"I'll just hopefully crack on and hopefully the pain isn't too much. It's gonna set me back a little bit, there's things I can and cannot do, just got to work with it. And I've got an amazing dancer."
Adam has been impressing on the dancefloor, despite his arthritis, scoring 26 on this week's show, which saw him dress as Mario, inspired The Super Mario Bros. Movie for the show's movie week.
EXCLUSIVE: Strictly the Truth: James Jordan shares frustration at 'bonkers' scores during Movie Week
Judge Shirley Ballas was impressed by his performance, saying: "You've just put yourself in the running, mate!"
Every Strictly Come Dancing winner so far
- 2004: Natisha Kaplinsky (partner Brendan Cole)
- 2004: Jill Halfpenny (partner Darren Bennett)
- 2005: Darren Gough (partner Lilia Kopylova)
- 2006: Mark Ramprakash (partner Karen Hardy)
- 2007: Alesha Dixon (partner Matthew Cutler)
- 2008: Tom Chambers (partner Camilla Dallerup)
- 2009: Chris Hollins (partner Ola Jordan)
- 2010: Kara Tointon (partner Artem Chigvintsev)
- 2011: Harry Judd (partner Aliona Vilani)
- 2012: Louis Smith (partner Flavia Cacace)
- 2013: Abbey Clancy (partner Aljaž Škorjanec)
- 2014: Caroline Flack (partner Pasha Kovalev)
- 2015: Jay McGuiness (partner Aliona Vilani)
- 2016: Ore Oduba (partner Joanne Clifton)
- 2017: Joe McFadden (partner Katya Jones)
- 2018: Stacey Dooley (partner Kevin Clifton)
- 2019: Kelvin Fletcher (partner Oti Mabuse)
- 2020: Bill Bailey (partner Oti Mabuse)
- 2021: Rose Ayling-Ellis (partner Giovanni Pernice)
- 2022: Hamza Yassin (partner Jowita Przystał)
We can't wait to see Adam and Luba's next dance!
