Gladiator and former Olympian Montell Douglas has become the 10th celebrity to leave Strictly Come Dancing after the Musical Week quarter-final.
The 38-year-old and her professional partner Johannes Radebe were defeated in the dance-off by former Love Island star Tasha Ghouri and her partner Aljaz Skorjanec.
Ghouri and Skorjanec appeared in the dance-off despite scoring the joint second highest with 38 for their Argentine tango to Ex-Wives from Six The Musical on Saturday’s show.
The couples performed their dances for a second time on Sunday’s results show, after Douglas and Radebe had scored 32 for their rumba to I’m Here from The Colour Purple on the live show.
Reality TV star Pete Wicks and his partner Jowita Przystal avoided the dance-off despite scoring just 26 on the live show for their waltz to Somewhere from West Side Story.
After the second performances, the judges unanimously decided to save Skorjanec and Ghouri, sending Douglas and Radebe home.
After finding out she would be leaving the show, Douglas said: “He (Johannes) has been amazing. Strictly has touched me in ways I never knew possible.
“I’m an Olympian and a Gladiator, but I have honestly struggled with confidence my whole life and being on the show, with the beautiful crew, the judges, the cast, has just been such an honour.”
Radebe said: “I am so proud of you (Montell), because you are a non-dancer. But the one thing that you have done every single week is turn out beautiful dancing.
“So I want to say to you, thank you for respecting our art form of ballroom and latin. The way you handled it was like a true pro. You’re my winner.”
The former Olympian said Radebe had become “a friend and a brother”, adding: “I hope he’s in my life forever, because we have something very special.”
Sunday’s results show featured a performance of The Schuyler Sisters from the musical Hamilton, and a group number by the Strictly professional dancers to As If We Never Said Goodbye from Sunset Boulevard.
The remaining five couples will take to the dancefloor next week for the BBC dancing show’s semi-final, where the couples will perform two dances.
Strictly Come Dancing returns live on BBC One and iPlayer on Saturday December 7 at 6.30pm, while the results show will air on Sunday December 8 at 7.20pm.
Douglas and Radebe will join Fleur East to discuss their departure on Strictly: It Takes Two on Monday at 6.30pm on BBC Two and iPlayer.
Both of this weekend’s episodes are available to watch on iPlayer.
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