Coronation Street star and former X Factor winner Shayne Ward and his partner Nancy Xu are the latest pair to be eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing.
Saturday’s episode saw the couples performing at Blackpool Tower, with two Couples Choice performances by Pete Wicks and partner Jowita Przystal, and Chris McCausland and his partner Dianne Buswell.
It was a tough contest, with most of the couples scoring highly and no significantly low scores. JB Gill and Lauren Oakley, who is stepping in for Amy Dowden, and Tasha Ghouri and Aljaž Škorjanec, held their position at the top of the leaderboard for the second week running.
Meanwhile, Wicks made a dramatic comeback, having come dead last in the previous week, scoring a paltry 22. He said he doubted that he “deserved” to be in the competition after Sam Quek and her pro partner Nikita Kuzman were eliminated following a judges’ decision last week.
Wynne Evans and Katya Jones, and Ward and Xu, found themselves at the bottom of the public vote for week eight of the competition.
Both couples were tasked with performing their routines again with Ward and Xu dancing the Rumba to “Time After Time” by Cyndi Lauper. They were followed by Evans and Jones, who performed the American Smooth to “Grace Kelly” by MIKA.
The judges then gave their verdicts with Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse choosing Ward and Xu, while Anton Du Beke opted to save Evans and jones. Head judge Shirley Ballas then made the final choice, with her deciding vote sending Ward and Xu home.
“I just want to say, you guys up there [the other contestants in the Clauditorium] are a dream,” Ward told Strictly host Tess Daly.
“Every single day, coming in here and seeing you guys you helped me so much. I want to say thank you to the audience as well, for always being amazing for us all. This has been, honestly, one of the best things I’ve ever done.”
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He added, “I’m proud that I made it to eight weeks as a novice dancer. A massive thank you goes to this incredible human right next to me [Nancy], who has put so much fire in me and made me believe that I can actually achieve more if I let myself go.
“I’m sorry it didn’t work out to the end, but I’m super proud that I got to meet you [to Nancy] and dance with you, so thank you.”
Xu, who has been at the centre of a suspected rift with her co-star Carlos Gu, said: “I’m beyond proud of this dance partnership. Shayne from week one until this point, every second you put your feet on the dancefloor you improved yourself.
“You’re a deep thinker, you always doubt yourself, you never believed yourself, but I never ever questioned you. When I watch you, I feel proud because I’ve turned someone who has never ever danced in their life into an amazing dancer. You should believe in yourself. I adored this partnership.”