Yahoo News Strictly's Tom and Nadiya reveal routines viewers won't see after exit
Strictly Come Dancing stars Tom Dean and Nadiya Bychkova spoke about their shock exit from the show, sharing they had many "big ideas" planned.
The duo became the first team to exit the 22nd series of the BBC show when they lost out to Toyah Wilcox and Neil Jones in Sunday's (September 29) dance-off.
Following their elimination, the pair appeared opposite Fleur East on spin-off show Strictly: it Takes Two to discuss their short stint on the show, revealing that they were "gutted" at not being able to fulfil their potential.
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"I definitely wanted to go further in the competition," said Tom, a professional swimmer and Olympic gold medallist. "I'm gutted - there's no two ways about it. I did give it my all – there was nothing more I could have given. I loved every part of it.
"It was really special and there was not one bit I didn't enjoy, so for it to get cut short like that was just gutting. I don't know what more either of us could have done. It was a genuine shock. I was convinced we'd done enough."
"How fortunate am I to get to know Nadiya? I'm sure we'll be friends for a long time but I wish the working relationship could have been longer and we had a few more weeks. We had all these big ideas – we had all these big lifts we were going to do, costume ideas and songs etc," he added.
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Nadiya echoed her partner's sentiments, saying: "I feel similarly to Tom. It was a shock. I'm absolutely gutted I won't get the chance to teach this wonderful man another dance. We had so many plans. I was really excited for Movie Week.
"I had all the choreography [sorted] because I really love the show. Being able to teach somebody like Tom made me feel in love with the show even more. I genuinely enjoyed every moment of our rehearsals. Every time he walked into the room he brought joy. We will miss it."
Strictly Come Dancing airs on Saturdays 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.
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