Strictly’s Karim Zeroual insists he’s on the mend after ‘lurgy’ left him fearing he’d miss tonight’s show
KARIM Zeroual has revealed he's "on the way up" after illness left him worrying about being fit for tonight's Strictly.
The TV presenter, 19, missed Wednesday's It Takes Two, with his dance partner Amy Dowden telling host Zoe Ball he had the "lurgy".
But speaking to about his illness, Karim said: "It started off with a sore throat, just a bit of a cold, (I'm) just run down, (I'm) really just working hard. I just needed some bed time.
"I literally just sat there (in bed), drank loads of water, honey lemon and ginger, but I'm on the way up now.
"It would take a lot to not get me down (there) on Saturday, that's for sure. But that's kind of what I had in mind."
Karim and Amy will perform a Tango to George Ezra's Paradise as they look to score highly with the judges once again.
The pairing have impressed so far, earning high scores of 31 and 32, respectively. When scores were combined for week one and week two, they found themselves at the top of the leaderboard.
Karim's illness meant Amy, 28, flew solo on the sofa as she chatted to Zoe about their Kung Fu Panda-themed Samba last weekend and how rehearsals were going this week.
Explaining Karim's absence, she said: "He's got the lurgy, so he's resting up as we need him fighting fit for Saturday night.
"He's so disappointed not to be here."
Zoe, 48, immediately offered some advice to Amy to pass on to Karim, having been off sick from the show with the flu herself last week.
Amy revealed Karim's illness meant they are a "day down" on training.
She said: "He's had such a busy schedule as well and we haven't been able to put in the hours we've put in other weeks.
"We've still got a lot to do technically and fundamentally."
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Meanwhile Zoe missed shows on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday last week because of the flu.
She was also forced to call in sick for her BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show.
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