Matt Di Angelo suffers dance injury

Matt Di Angelo has been ordered to take three days off from rehearsing for Strictly Come Dancing after he tore his knee ligaments while practising for the show.

The EastEnders actor had to be given emergency medical treatment and doctors bandaged his leg up before giving him orders to rest.

Di Angelo, whose character Deano Wicks has been axed from the soap, told The Sun: "One minute I was dancing and all of a sudden I was in pain. I pulled some ligaments in my leg and I’ve had to have physio.

"I’m out of action for a few days, which is annoying as I’ve been practising hard. We’ve been doing four hours a day and it’s really, really difficult. It makes EastEnders look easy."

Actress Kellie Shirley, who co-stars with him as Carly in the soap, claims the cast have dubbed him 'Justin Trousersnake' because of his dance moves on set.

But Di Angelo admitted he hasn't got high hopes of winning because of the amount of attention fellow contestant Kelly Brook is getting, saying: "If I was going to put money on someone it would be Kelly. Every time I open a paper she’s pictured in a skimpy outfit and there’s just a few lines about everyone else.

"But the competition is really intense. Alesha Dixon and Gethin Jones are dark horses. I’d keep an eye on them."

The new series of Strictly Come Dancing will start next Saturday on BBC1.