Strictly Come Dancing's Brendan Cole reassures fans he is not dead after 'horrifying' report

A website reported that he had died from a chest infection
Alive: Brendan Cole with Anastacia on Strictly Come Dancing
Guy Levy/BBC
Emma Powell21 October 2016
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Brendan Cole has reassured fans that he is not dead.

The Strictly Come Dancing professional was left “bemused and horrified” by reports claiming he had died.

A website called CNN Channel reported that Cole had passed away in the early hours of Thursday morning as a result of his chest infection.

Cole posted a screengrab from the website and told fans that he was very much alive.

In action: Brendan Cole with Anastacia
Guy Levy/BBC

“Ok...Very disturbing..,” he tweeted. “I have just been informed that I am dead!

“Horrified and bemused about the @CNN cnn-channel.com reporting this!”

He continued: “Ps...I'm very much still alive! Holy S***! Cnn-channel very wrong on this report thank goodness!”

Keen to dispel the reports he later added: "Ps...report yesterday of me having died...very much untrue! lol."

Cole has been on antibiotics for a chest infection that nearly saw him miss last weekend’s show.

Speaking on Tuesday’s It Takes Two, Cole said: “I'll let you into a little secret. We have the lovely Gorka stepping in for me for a few days.

“I don't know how happy I am about it - he's Spanish, he's good looking and has a body which is pretty much the best on the show.

“'I kind of have the feeling it's going to go downhill for me from here.”

Cole will update fans on his condition on Friday and announce whether or not he can perform on Saturday night.

Strictly Come Dancing 2016

1/44

The news comes days after he was forced to deny claims that his relationship with Anastacia is strained.

The dancer said the pair are both strong-minded and that their "conversations" have been "misconstrued".

Writing in his Digital Spy column he said: “Anastacia's a very strong-minded woman – she wants to do things a certain way. And I'm a pretty strong-minded fellow!

"It's ultimately my decision as to what we do, so we just have discussions about things, which is what has been misconstrued and then turned into something that's completely wrong. It's very disappointing.”

Follow @StandardEnts or like us on Facebook for more entertainment news.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in