‘Strictly Come Dancing’ Professional Brendan Cole Cheats Death After Falling Off A Ladder Holding A Chainsaw

‘Strictly Come Dancing’ professional dancer Brendan Cole has revealed he cheated death during a freak accident at his home in Mallorca.

The 41-year-old was cutting down a tree with a chainsaw in his garden on the Spanish island when he fell 40ft off ladder.

The Kiwi star ended up with a badly injured leg in the accident, but he admits it could have been a lot worse.

He told The Sun: “I hit the floor with a thud and I checked I was still alive.

“I have hurt my leg. I am serious. I fell off a ladder. I was chopping a tree down with a chainsaw as it had caterpillars in. It was awkward. I came down with quite a thud. It did hurt. I was wounded for a while.

“It was my first time up a ladder. It was a brand new 13m ladder. There was just a Spanish guy saying “Are you OK, are you OK?”

Brendan also spoke for the first time about losing out to Shirley Ballas to become Len Goodman’s replacement as head judge on ‘Strictly’, after he and fellow dancer Anton Du Beke screentested for the job.

Brendan added: “I was hoping for myself but never mind. Poor Anton and poor me but the show must go on.

“Shirley was in a good position to get the job so she is going to make the show interesting.

“The BBC have the say and they have gone for Shirley. I had a screen test for the role and so did Anton.

“It was really nice to be involved in the process with the hope that it might be me but it wasn’t.”

Earlier this month, Arlene Phillips gave her verdict on the appointment of Shirley to the ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ judging panel.

Arlene, who previously sat alongside Len Goodman and co on the show, had made no secret of the fact she wanted to return, but that hasn’t stopped her from giving Shirley her seal of approval.

Arlene told Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid on ‘Good Morning Britain’: “It’s a woman, She is fierce, she is tough, she is hard and she’s sharp.

“She knows how to move the body and tell others how to move the body.”

However, when the hosts tried to pry some juicy stories out of Arlene, she diplomatically dodged the question.

“Well yeah there are stories,” she said. “I’m really, really fond of her son Mark who I’ve done some work with, he’s fabulous.”