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Actor Adam Thomas has revealed he has been diagnosed with a long-term health condition just days after being announced as the eighth celebrity contestant who will compete in the forthcoming series of Strictly Come Dancing. Sharing a post to Instagram on Friday (11 August) to celebrate his 35 birthday, the Waterloo Road actor told his followers that he has been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. “As much as I act like a kid, my body is telling another story…” he wrote. “I’ve been in a lot of pain since January,” he continued. “It started with my knees and then travelled to my wrists, fingers and now ankles and toes.” Thomas explained: “I never knew what was happening and finally after several blood tests and back and forth to doctors and hospitals, I’ve been diagnosed with rheumatoid Arthritis!” The actor, who is best known for playing Donte Charles in BBC school-based drama, said that he originally thought arthritis was something that people are diagnosed with “later on in life”. Last week, Thomas was announced as the eighth celebrity contestant to appear on Strictly Come Dancing, but has said that he is “up for the challenge”. “The reason I signed up to Strictly is because I just want to be able to move again, get fit and do it, all with a smile on my face!” he wrote. “It really couldn’t have come at a better time I’m a firm believer of everything happening for a reason, and I know the journey I’ve been on was meant to happen, to never take small things in life for granted! …Like going for a run, playing with my kids and just being able to walk with no pain!” “I know it’s going to be tough and I’ve definitely got my work cut out but am up for the challenge and can not wait to get on that dance floor!!” Thomas, who marked his birthday by sharing a picture with his wife, Caroline Daly and their two children, told his followers to “stay positive” and “get the right help where and when you can”. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease and long-term condition that causes pain, swelling and stiffness in the joints. The condition usually affects the hands, feet and wrists and can cause flare-up periods, where symptoms become worse for a period of time. According to the NHS, the condition often stars when a person is between 30 and 50 years old, and women are more likely to be affected than men. Thomas played Adam Barton in ITV soap Emmerdale and also appeared in I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here in 2016, and went on to co-host the spin-off I’m a Celebrity: Extra Camp. Speaking in a statement ahead of his Strictly debut, Thomas said he has been a fan of the dance competition “for years”. “I can’t believe I’m actually doing it!” he said. “I can’t dance to save my life but I’m buzzing to learn and have a good laugh with my pro. Get me on that dance floor... I can’t wait!" Former Strictly contestants have been sharing their words of encouragement for Thomas as he embarks on the challenging training schedule. “You’re so strong and with your family behind you, you can conquer anything. Can’t wait to see you smash it on Strictly ,” wrote singer and presenter Fleur East, who competed in last year’s competition. TV presenter Angela Scanlon, who will be competing alongside Thomas this year, wrote: “You’ve got this.” Find the full Strictly Come Dancing 2023 lineup here. Read More Husband ‘ruins’ dinner because of his wife’s typo: ‘The worst kind of control freak’ Fan who went into labour at Pink concert names newborn son after her From Angela Scanlon to Zara McDermott: The fashion of this year’s Strictly contestants Linda Evangelista opens up about co-parenting with son’s stepmother Salma Hayek Katharine McPhee reveals she and David Foster suffered a ‘family tragedy’

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Neil deGrasse Tyson is one of the biggest fountains of knowledge on the internet, but it turns out he’s not right about everything. One YouTuber has gone to extreme lengths to prove a point to him about helicopters, after the astrophysicist and science guru posted on Twitter about them. You might think that if an engine fails in a helicopter mid-air, then it’s naturally going to plummet to the Earth, right? That’s the sentiment Tyson posted on social media in 2015, writing: “FYI: An airplane whose engine fails is a glider. A helicopter whose engine fails is a brick.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter From then on, Destin Sandlin from the SmarterEveryDay YouTube channel worked to prove this “misconception” wrong. “I’m going to get into the back of that helicopter and power down the engine to really see what happens. How do we get back down to Earth?” he said in a video which has been viewed more than eight million times. STRAPPED INTO A FALLING HELICOPTER - Smarter Every Day 154 www.youtube.com Sandlin was joined by helicopter pilot Gerry Friesen, who stated that he believes landing a helicopter with an engine issue is far safer than landing an airplane with a failing motor. The idea revolves around the concept of “autorotation”, with Sandlin saying: "If the rotor blade quits turning you are going to fall like a brick – but helicopter pilots have a physics trick to keep that from happening." According to the Federal Aviation Administration, autorotation is “the state of flight where the main rotor system is being turned by the force of the relative wind rather than engine power… In this case, the potential energy of altitude is converted to kinetic energy during the descent and touchdown." As Sandlin explains in the video, there’s a biting point where the helicopter blades act like a fan on descent in “pinwheel mode”, allowing safe descent to the ground. So, there is a safe way of landing a helicopter when the engine fails – and Neil deGrasse Tyson isn’t always 100 per cent right about everything, it seems. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.