Former Love Island winner Dani Dyer has said she was “heartbroken for days” after she was forced to leave last year’s series due to injury.

The 30-year-old was once more paired with her professional partner from last year’s series, Nikita Kuzmin, during Saturday night’s launch episode of the BBC dancing show.

Speaking to new hosts Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe during the show, Dyer said: “Do you know what? It’s amazing, last year I was devastated, I was heartbroken for days.

“I locked myself in my room, and my mum was like knocking on my door, and she was like, ‘that’s enough now, you’ve got to get out of bed’.

“I was like, ‘I’ve got nothing to get up for’, (and) mum, she was like, “you’ve got three children”, so yeah, when they asked me to come back, I was like, ‘yes, please’, I’m just so grateful.”

After being paired with Kuzmin, Dyer said she was “over the moon” and “so, so happy”, while Kuzmin said he had “tears of joy when that happened”.

Prior to the pairing, she said: “I don’t want to say it… obviously, I was with Nikita before, and we clicked so instantly, he’s such an incredible dancer (and) person, so I was devastated because obviously it was like a book that I opened and then just shut it really quickly.

“So, I’d like to open that book again, but I don’t know why I’m talking about books, I don’t even read, but it depends what they want to give me, I’m trusting the universe on this one, the magical universe.”

For Strictly’s latest series the contestants were partnered on the dancefloor during a dance, rather than in a pre-recorded cut away video as they have been in past series.