PERFORMING on Strictly Come Dancing is the ultimate dream for almost every Latin and ballroom performer.
But for Jasmine Takacs, a slot on the show led to a devastating injury that nearly ended her dancing career forever.
The 35-year-old, from Sweden, was thrilled to be selected to be one of two dancers doing a routine to a Gary Barlow song between the celebrity performances in 2016.
However, in the rehearsal just moments before they took to the dancefloor, Jasmine's male partner dropped her as he attempted to lift her.
“It was a super small lift, but I was in a huge amount of pain after hitting the ground,” she said. “It was just five minutes before we were due on stage, so I decided to push through it and do the performance as it was only a few minutes.
“Afterwards I went straight to hospital and found out I had broken my foot in three pieces, my ligaments had been stretched to around 90 per cent and I had tendonitis as well.
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“I was told it would take me at least six months to heal, and I had to learn to walk again before I could even attempt to dance.”
Beside Jasmine throughout her gruelling rehab was her dance partner Aaron Brown, with whom she miraculously went on to reach the finals of Britain's Got Talent.
It was through her friendship with him that she was able to slowly put her foot through its paces and feel safe performing death-defying lifts.
Incredibly, she was back walking and starting to dance in just three months, which she credits to her “determination” to get better.
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Finding her feet again
6
6“The accident could have ended my career,” Jasmine said.
“I was heartbroken at the time and didn't want to let it stop me.
“I managed to keep all the tears in until I'd got out of the Strictly studio and into a taxi to the hospital."
The break left her unable to continue with the rest of the BBC1 series for that year, but she stayed in their group dances until 2019.
The same year, she was thought to be in the running to become a main pro on the BBC1 show – instead she was chosen to be a main dancer on the Swedish version of the show, Let's Dance.
Thankfully, Jasmine felt confident that Aaron, 31, wouldn't drop her, and he claims: “I'd rather throw myself to the ground under her than let her get hurt”.
Britain's Got Talent fame
In 2020 the pair decided to take their routines to TV and auditioned for Britain's Got Talent – making it all the way to the finals.
They joined Magic Bones, Jon Courtenay, Nabil Abdulrashid and Steve Royale.
Their steamy routines saw them get standing ovations from the virtual audiences and wowed judges.
Since filming the show, they have performed in Dubai, the Seychelles, and Australia, among others.
They were also invited to Spain for an All Stars version of BGT, but their performance was put in jeopardy when Aaron injured his ankled.
“Shortly before we were supposed to fly, I, embarrassingly, tripped crossing the road in Sweden and severely pulled my ligaments,” Aaron recalled.
“We had just three days before the filming, and I decided I had to just power through it and channel Jasmine.
“We checked that I could perform all the lifts safely and went ahead with it.
“I shouldn't really have danced, but we didn't want to miss a chance to perform.”
Making history
The pair are currently performing on Lets Dance in Sweden, but hope their raised profile though BGT may help them land a coveted professional dancer spot on the UK's Strictly.
Jasmine made show history in her home country when she performed with paralympian-athlete Aron Anderson, in a routine known as a para-combi dance.
She was selected to partner the motivational speaker thanks to her credentials as a choreographer but admitted she had “never even met someone in a wheelchair” prior to Aron.
The routines proved incredibly popular, and the pair made it to the quarter-finals of the Swedish show.
“It was one of the most rewarding pairings I've ever had," she said.
“He wanted to make sure other wheelchair users knew they could still dance and not be ashamed.
“It was tough at first working out what kind of moves we could do with him in a wheelchair, but we had a lot of fun.
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“Plus his arms were very strong so he was great for doing lifts.
“I'd love to do the same thing on the UK show. Everyone is welcome in dance.”
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