Yahoo News Strictly Come Dancing 2023 announces second elimination during Movies Week
Strictly Come Dancing spoilers follow.
Movies Week is always full of drama as characterisation comes to the fore, and one couple achieved the first 10 of the series, but for another couple it was also time to bid farewell to the dancefloor. After combining the judges' scores with viewer votes, Nikita Kanda and Gorka Márquez found themselves dancing for their place in next week's show against Zara McDermott and Graziano Di Prima.
Zara and Graziano took to the ballroom first to perform a feline-inspired theatrical pasodoble to 'The Puss Suite' from Puss In Boots with some impressive sword-ography, before Nikita and Gorka brought an energetic jive to 'Kids In America' from Clueless.
All four judges (Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Anton Du Beke and Shirley Ballas) unanimously voted to save Zara and Graziano, meaning Nikita and Gorka became the second couple to leave this year's competition.
Related: Strictly's Amy Dowden makes touching return to live show
The BBC Asian Network Breakfast radio show host shared an emotional speech reflecting on her time on Strictly, thanking her partner for the support along the way: "I don't want to leave yet, I feel like I've let him down. I've had the best time and I love all my Strictly family, I'm going to miss you all.
"This has been a dream come true, I'm so grateful. I've got to say the biggest thank you to Gorka, he has been the biggest support and I've had the best time ever."
Meanwhile, Gorka opened up on his pride at how well Nikita has danced, considering she has no previous experience, whilst also praising her personality in bringing fun to their training sessions.
"I am beyond proud of her, for someone that doesn't have any dance experience or performance experience to come on this show and dance in front of millions of people for three weeks, I think it's incredible. You should be very proud of yourself, you have never let me down and I am very proud of you.
Related: Strictly's Neil Jones says he is happy being the show's "cheerleader"
"This show is going to teach you so many things about yourself that you can take with you and I take incredible memories. I've never laughed so much in three weeks than I did with you!"
The results show also featured a Barbie-inspired number from the professional dancers, a tribute to this year's highest grossing movie, which has achieved over $1.36 billion globally at the box office.
Strictly Come Dancing airs on Saturdays and Sundays on BBC One, while spin-off Strictly: It Takes Two airs on weeknights on BBC Two. Both shows are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
Tickets for Strictly's 2024 live arena tour are available now.
Interested in talking about Strictly Come Dancing? Visit our dedicated sub-forum.
You Might Also Like
