Zara McDermott was forced to leave Strictly Come Dancing rehearsals early to accompany her boyfriend Sam Thompson to hospital due to kidney problems.
The former Love Island star, 26, is teaming up with Graziano Di Prima in the current series and will be hoping to feature in the bottom two for the third time this weekend.
But love comes first for Zara as the star left practice to be with Sam, 31, who feared he could have kidney disease.
Talking to Pete Wicks on their podcast Stay relevantSam said, “You came to me when I thought I was dying and you were literally there for me.”
“Even though he knew there was nothing wrong with you,” Pete replied.
Shock: Zara McDermott was forced to leave rehearsals strictly early to accompany her boyfriend Sam Thompson to hospital due to kidney problems (pictured with Graziano Di Prima)
Show: The former Love Island star, 26, is teaming up with Graziano Di Prima in the current series and hopes to feature in the bottom two for a third time this weekend
Sam then revealed that he got Zara to stop her strict rehearsals after he thought there was something seriously wrong with him.
“You want to know something worse?” Sam said. ‘I let Zara leave her strict training early to visit me at the doctors, and it was just up to the man to say, “Yes, you’re doing fine.”
It comes after Sam gave in he ‘could have done more’ for Zara after she narrowly avoided elimination a second time.
After failing to impress with their Pasodoble in week three, the pair were back in the bottom two on Sunday night – but were rescued at the expense of comedian Eddie Kadi and professional partner Karen Hauer.
Sam revealed he had been distracted by another priority during the week, but would come back ‘stronger’ to support her performance on Saturday.
In his radio program Hits in Great Britain with Sam Thompson, he shared with his listeners, “Zara was back in the dance! It happens all too often and it’s very hard to accept as a boyfriend because she comes back completely deflated and has worked so hard.
‘I have to be honest with you, even though I could have done a little more!
‘I got a bit distracted by rugby, by the World Cup and I didn’t go as big with my usual Instagram efforts, but I’m going to come back stronger this week!
Couple: But love comes first for Zara as the star left practice to be with Sam, 31, who feared he might have kidney disease
Sam said: ‘I let Zara leave her strict training early to come and see me at the doctors and it was just up to the man to say, ‘Yes, you’re fine”
“We’re not going down without a fight, baby!”
Sam wasn’t in the audience to support Zara on Saturday as she only gets two tickets and has her friends and family on a ‘rota system’.
Zara and Graziano narrowly avoided elimination after scoring 28 for their American Smooth against LeeAnn Rimes’s Can’t Fight The Moonlight.