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Strictly star Judi Love moved to tears as she dedicates dance to her late parents

Strictly Come Dancing star Judi Love has been blowing fans away weekly with her show-stopping routines – we still haven't gotten that Samba out of our heads – but on Saturday, she was more emotional.

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The Loose Women star was dancing the Waltz to Mariah Carey's Hero with her partner Graziano di Prima, and she dedicated the routine to her late parents. In a moving VT segment, she explained: "They loved their dancing, they loved their music, they are my heroes."

WATCH: Judi Love gets surprise message on Strictly

She continued: "I lost my mum about 11 year ago, my dad five months ago."

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When Graziano asked if she took after her parents, she joked that they had a lot of "personality" which may have contributed to the star's bubbliness.

Getting more emotional, Judi nearly broke into tears as she spoke of her mum's illness. "My mum had so much light, unfortunately, she had many strokes and she had dementia and it takes away all of that personality, and that's what I really struggled with," she said.

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judi-love-emotional

Judi dedicated her dance to her late parents

"And with my dad up until his last days, he knew what was going on, he lived, he enjoyed life."

READ: Adam Peaty and Katya Jones speak Strictly friendships and swapping the pool for the dancefloor

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Following the dance, which was watched live by her sister Sharon and niece Alesha, Judi appeared to be close to tears as she spoke about how Sharon supported her throughout her mum's illness.

"She's [Sharon] one of my heroes," Judi said. "When my mum first had her aneurysm when I was nine, my sister was only 18 and she fully took care of me and our home, so she is fully one of my heroes."

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judi-love-strictly-emotional

The star was moved to tears following the emotional performance

Last week, the 41-year-old was treated to a surprise when Sean Paul got in touch to say how much he loved her samba.

Appearing via a pre-recorded video on this week's episode, he congratulated Judi on the performance. "Hey, Judi! What's up, it's Sean Paul," the Jamaican rapper said.

"So last week you blew up my phone. All different people calling me and telling me you did Get Busy! So I had to check it out for myself, and you know, you did your thing. So big up and good luck on the next instalment of Strictly!"

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