Dani Dyer started "crying again" over her Strictly Come Dancing exit after reading a sweet message from her "gutted" dance partner Nikita Kuzmin. The Love Island star was forced to drop out of the competition days after fracturing her ankle during rehearsals, leaving Nikita without a celebrity dance partner days before the first live show. The Ukrainian professional took to Instagram on Wednesday to reflect on his short-lived partnership with Dani. "So so gutted to have finished our journey before it even properly started (heartbroken emoji)," he wrote alongside a series of snaps from their time together. "The amount of laughs and fun we had in this short time was unbelievable! Really loved our partnership and hope that one day we can actually get to week 1 lol but, (health) is the most important thing." He added, "I'm wishing you the absolute best @danidyerxx (heart emoji) you're so lovely, positive and a wonderful human being!! And it breaks my heart knowing how excited you were to do your absolute best on the show! Hopefully we can pick up next year." Dani, who cried while making a video about her exit, told Nikita in the comments that his post had set her off again. "I'm crying again (crying emojis) thank you for being the best teacher ever.. you are the kindest most amazing person... going to miss our laughs & dancing with you.. let's try again one day and sort our team name," she posted. It has yet to be revealed if Dani will be replaced with another celebrity contestant. If she is not, this will mark the first time producers haven't replaced a celebrity who has withdrawn before the live shows started. Back in 2019, when Jamie Laing dropped out after suffering an injury at the pre-recorded launch show, he was replaced by Emmerdale's Kelvin Fletcher. However, there was a longer gap between the launch and the live shows that year. The first live show will be broadcast on Saturday.