Sam Quek shares heartbreaking unseen Strictly moment saying there are 'more important things than the show'
Olympic hockey star Sam Quek became the sixth person to leave the Strictly ballroom on Sunday night after finding herself in the bottom two with Gladiator Montell Douglas. Despite scoring 29 out of 40, Sam and her pro partner Nikita Kuzmin danced their American Smooth to Love Story by Taylor Swift again, but was booted off the show after all four judges voted for Montell and Johannes Radebe to stay.
After the final decision was made, Sam took to her social media to release a lengthy and emotional statement which included a heartbreaking unaired moment involving fan favourite Amy Dowden. Amy, 36, returned to the show this year after being forced to miss last year's series as she underwent chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer.
After admitting that Strictly was "tougher than she imagined" and thanking Nikita for helping her "shoot for the moon", Sam wrote: "In closing, I want to share with you a little off camera moment that helped put everything into perspective for me, which happened a couple of weeks ago….
READ MORE:Strictly dancer begs 'I want to go back' in bid to return to show
READ MORE:Furious Strictly Come Dancing fans say 'something smells here' as they switch off in protest
"When JB and Amy found themselves in the bottom two, the entire audience were in a state of shock. As the two of them took to the floor to do their dance-off, they weren’t greeted with the usual warm applause and support from the crowd, such was the tension, surprise and awkwardness in the studio.
"Amy turned around to the audience and said, 'Come on folks… it’s just a dance-off… it’s not a year of chemotherapy!'. A sobering reminder that there are bigger and more important things going on around the world then Strictly Come Dancing … amongst the glitz, glamour, twirls and lifts you can sometimes forget that."
Sign up to OK!'s daily newsletter to get updates sent to your inbox for free
Reflecting further on her journey, mum of two Sam said she'd been blown away by the whole experience but said she'd "danced my feet red raw" and practised her routines until "my legs couldn't hold me up".
"The payoff for all that work though was that every week, for one night, I got to live a dream," she added. "The most amazing dream and one I will miss so, so much. I’d do the hard yards ten times over for those Saturdays again. The banter with the make-up girls, the hair styling, the being made to feel like a real-life princess in the most amazing costumes, dancing on one of the most notorious stages in the world with the most wonderful professional whom had expertly crafted our routine.
"My word I will miss it! As for my final dance… losing a Dance-Off isn’t great, in fact the competitor in me hates it, but Montell is a better dancer than me and this is a dance competition after all – so fair do’s."
