PAUL Merson has revealed the heartbreaking reason behind his Strictly Come Dancing stint following his exit from the show.
The football legend, 56, is the latest celebrity to be axed from Strictly following a tense dance off with JLS star JB Gill.
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Paul, who lasted five weeks in the BBC show, has now opened up about why he decided to take part.
Sitting alongside his Strictly pro partner Karen Hauer, Paul touched upon his former addiction to drugs, alcohol and gambling.
Paul has overcome his demons and hopes his appearance on Strictly will show other addicts that “anything can happen”.
In his and Karen’s appearance on Strictly: It Takes Two, Paul said he had received countless messages of congratulations and support following their exit.
He said: “It’s nice. I’ve had a lot of messages, which is nice.
“You know, my thing when it first started off, one was for my mum because of what she did, but the other thing was to help people who struggle with addiction badly, because takes away your life, addiction.
“Just to show people that anything can happen. You can go and do anything when you stop doing something that keeps on ruining your life.
“And Karen was a big part of that, which I’m very grateful for.”
Paul and Karen found themselves in the dance off after performing a a samba to the disco hit Car Wash, by Motown legend Rose Royce.
They ended up bottom of the leader board and in the dance off with JB and his partner Amy Dowden.
Fans and the judges were left gasping when it was revealed that JB, arguably one of the stronger dancers on the programme, would have to dance again for his place in the contest.
The judges chose to save JB, but the outcome left some viewers accusing the outcome as a “fix” due to the show’s format.
One fan took to social media and said: “I think they just pick anyone to be in the dance off. The votes don’t mean anything at all. Waste of money. They have prob already decided who’s in the dance off. All fixed.”
A second added: “They always say it’s about the dance off but it can’t have, been because Paul was the better dancer in it so it seems like a fix.”
And a third said: “They knew they’d save JB even though his jive was messy and boring. Paul has been brilliant to watch and should’ve been saved. What a fix.”
In his and Karen’s exit interview with Fleur East on It Takes Two, Paul said he “couldn’t have done any better” on the weekend.
He joked: “If you’d seen me in rehearsals, it was unbelievable.
“I was like, ‘Why has Karen got that wrong?’ But it was me!”
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