THE Masked Dancer's Cactus has spilled the beans on a horrifying accident that almost caused him to pull out of the show.
Cactus, who was this weekend revealed as TV choirmaster Gareth Malone, fell down a set of stairs shortly after signing up to the ITV1 series.
Gareth's ankle turned "black, purple and green" and he was forced to miss the three weeks of rehearsals.
The classical musician only managed to compete after "smuggling" a physiotherapist into the Masked Dancer studios.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun Online following his exit, Gareth said his fall happened at home hours after his first rehearsal.
"It was quite dramatic," Gareth admitted. "I had my first rehearsal and I came home and I was quite tired.
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"It was physically tiring and I had a bad night. And I came down the stairs and picked up the post.
"We've got five little steps into the kitchen and I fell down the stairs and I twisted my ankle. It went black and purple and green.
"Immediately I was like, 'Oh no!' and did ice and elevation. I had a plethora of straps and harnesses on."
Gareth said he was "on the phone" to the Masked Dancer team and admitted it was "touch and go" as to whether he would actually be able to perform to the nation.
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He added: "I had to smuggle a physio into the studio. I had to have three weeks out at the beginning.
"I was going really slowly then, about a week before, I thought, 'Okay, I'm actually going to be able to do this'.
"It was touch and go but I loved it. My team were just so brilliant – it's one of those things; to make something funny, you've actually got to work really hard."
Gareth was the fourth star to be eliminated from this year's series of The Masked Dancer.
Fans were blown away when they found out who Cactus was, as the judges had guessed at the character being various McFly members.
The choirmaster had everyone fooled and revealed only his wife knew he was taking part in the show.
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After his identity was revealed, Gareth admitted: “It was an absolute nightmare, I had to lie to everyone, had to lie to my parents, I had to lie to my children, I had to lie to everyone I work with, it was really difficult and I didn’t enjoy it at all.
“It was really hard getting in the car and being clandestine about it and everything. It was just so much of a relief when I took the mask off at the end. It was like, ‘Great, finally I can just be myself again!’”
The Masked Dancer continues Saturday at 6.30pm on ITV and ITV Hub
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