Strictly brings Denise to her knees (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Strictly brings Denise to her knees

11:20am Thursday 20th December 2012 in National Entertainment News © Press Association 2013

Denise Van Outen has been left battered and bruised as she prepares for the Strictly Come Dancing final after more tough training for the show's climax.

The actress and presenter is nursing painful knees after the gruelling rehearsals, with professional partner James Jordan showing off her injuries in a photo he posted online.

Despite impressing the judges on a regular basis, Denise appears to have an uphill struggle after a lack of viewer support dragged her into the dance-off two weeks running.

Last week she scored 38 and 39 for her two dances, putting her in second place on the leaderboard, but she still ended up dancing for her place in the final against Lisa Riley.

James put the picture of Denise's poorly limbs on Twitter, showing her knees and shins covered in purple and yellow blotches as well as a couple of grazes.

It was accompanied by the message: "Denise is saying her knees hurt. I don't know why, do you?"

She will compete against actress Dani Harmer, gymnast Louis Smith and Girls Aloud singer Kimberley Walsh to land the glitterball trophy on Saturday night.

Each act will perform three routines - their own personal favourite from the series, the judges' choice and a showdance.

Denise will be performing her Charleston, which amazed the judges earlier in the series with Craig Revel Horwood the only one not to give her 10 marks. She will also perform a jive, which was picked by the judges.