Nina Wadia 'gutted' to be first voted off 'Strictly': I had so much more to give
Former EastEnders star Nina Wadia has admitted she is "gutted" to be the first celebrity contestant voted off the latest series of Strictly Come Dancing.
The 52-year-old Goodness Gracious Me comedian and her professional partner Neil Jones became the first couple to leave the BBC dance show on Sunday night after their Tango failed to impress the judges in a dance-off with Coronation Street's Katie McGlynn and Gorka Marquez.
In her first interview since getting the boot, Wadia told Rylan Clark-Neal on Strictly: It Takes Two: “I was gutted for sure. I had so much more to give and I wanted to spend so much more time with [Jones] – more than my husband!”
Watch: Who is Strictly's Nina Wadia?
After the first week of dances Wadia had been pegged as one of the favourites for her impressive Samba, but found herself crashing down to the bottom of the leaderboard in week two with her lacklustre Tango to Would I Lie To You? by Eurythmics.
Read more: Craig Revel Horwood: 'Dancing is my therapy'
But despite the performance falling flat with the judges and viewers Wadia insisted: "I loved it! I tell you what, I actually really enjoyed the Tango. I had great fun doing it so I was really, really disappointed because it’s technically a very hard dance to do but it is what it is.”
And even though she was the first contestant to leave the show, the Still Open All Hours star said: "Strictly has been possibly the most satisfying thing I’ve done in my 32 year career – I loved it.”
Professional dance partner Jones added: “She worked really hard at it. At the beginning of the week, [Nina] started falling in love with the dance and it’s just one of those things that can happen to anyone. It’s easy to just go wrong slightly but still, it was such a great performance.”
Wadia – who has been married to her Canadian composer husband Raiomond Mirza for 23 years – had previously revealed she was not worried about the Strictly curse.
She said: "I can’t imagine still being with my husband if we’d run out of steam. Roleplay has come in very handy.
"For me it’s accents. He’s crap at doing them, it’s just the fact he makes the effort. You have to be brave. It’s easier than you think because you’re not being yourself.”
Read more: Judi Love gets Strictly party started with bottom-shaking Samba
McFly's Tom Fletcher and his partner Amy Dowden missed the first week of elimination as they were self-isolating separately for 10 days having tested positive for coronavirus.
He admitted: "We’ve got to pull something special out of the bag for week three."
Watch: Who's judging this year's Strictly?
