Strictly Come Dancing names semi-finalists - who went home?
Strictly Come Dancing has named its 2022 semi finalists after Kym Marsh and Graziano Di Prima were sent home in this week's elimination.
Marsh was back in the ballroom after a week off from the BBC One contest as she had previously tested positive for COVID, but although the judges were impressed by her Fame-themed Cha Cha, even with 34 points she was bottom of a high-scoring leaderboard.
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The pair went up against Molly Rainford and Carlos Gu in the dance off, who are no strangers to the bottom two but were chosen to stay in the competition by every judge except for Anton Du Beke.
Rainford and Gu go through to the semi finals along with Helen Skelton and Gorka Marquez, Will Mellor and Nancy Xu, Fleur East and Vito Coppola, and Hamza Yassin and Jowita Przystal.
Talking about her time on Strictly, actor and TV presenter Marsh said: "Honestly I’ve loved every single second that I’ve been here. I never thought I’d get to this stage, in a million years. I have to say, it’s all down to this man [Graziano] here, he is just wonderful and he will be my friend forever.
"But what a journey it’s been, this show is just wonderful, it shows you things about yourself you don’t know, it shows you how tough you can be."
Talking about her father who has terminal cancer, she continued: "My dad has been so proud and it’s kind of kept him going. When he was in hospital last week, and obviously we weren’t here, all these guys sent him videos and it meant such a lot. My grandchildren are so proud."
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Di Prima told her: "I will be part of your family forever, I think we became friends from the very first day. I know you’ve learnt how to dance, but I have learnt so much from you, you are a warrior. You’re going to be in my heart forever, we’re going to be together many times, because I know I have found a friend for life."
The weekend's leaderboard was topped by Skelton and Marquez, and Mellor and Xu who both earned 39 points.
Viewers loved Skelton's "revenge" dance, a couple's choice routine to Cabaret's Mein Herr in which she sang the line "you're better off without me" in a close up to camera.
Many fans of the show assumed the performance was a reference to husband Richie Myler, who left Skelton in April when their third child was just four months old.
Strictly Come Dancing will air its live show next week on Sunday, 10 December at 7.15pm on BBC One, with the results show on Monday, 11 December.
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