Third Strictly Come Dancing exit confirmed with fans ‘surprised’ by bottom two
DIY SOS star Nick Knowles has become the third celebrity to exit Strictly Come Dancing after losing the dance-off to Coronation Street actor Shayne Ward. Nick and his professional partner, Luba Mushtak, received just 21 points on Saturday night (12 October) putting them very low down on the leaderboard.
Surprisingly, Shayne and Nancy Xu also landed in the bottom two despite being awarded a respectable 30 from the judges. Both couples took to the dancefloor again with Nick and Luba performing the Charleston to Rain on the Roof from the film Paddington 2, while Shayne and Nancy had another attempt at their Cha Cha Cha.
After both couples had danced, the judges were asked to give their verdict, to which all of them chose to save Shayne and Nancy. Head judge Shirley Ballas also agreed she would have chosen to keep Shayne over Nick. Nick's exit comes after the star experienced multiple injuries that stopped him from competing last week.
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Viewers took to social media to express their thoughts on the final result. One wrote: “I am surprised Shane was in the bottom two. I thought he had a large following. Sorry to see Nick go, but maybe it is for the best”.
Another added: “The ‘going first curse’ strikes again! Hope Nick can now fully recover, but I’m gutted for Luba”. A third added: “Wow, surprised to see Shayne in the dance-off but predicted Nick. Right choice to go. I hope he can fully recover from those injuries.” A fourth wrote: "I agree with the result. The right couple was saved."
When asked by Tess Daly about their time on the show, Nick said: “I've really, really been surprised by how much I've loved being here and by two things that happen. One is how much you care each week, and the other is how much you don’t want to let down your partner. It’s been amazing, and thank you, everybody, for all the support. And the only reason I could do this is simply because of Luba’s changes; she's been amazing.”
Nick’s professional partner, Luba said: “I’ve never met someone as determined as you, and I remember you saying that if you do your best, you’ll be very happy. I think you did more than your best. Thank you.”
Nick then added: “Luba’s been amazing and just been so fabulous every day. And I should say thank you also to all the background staff, the physios, all the people that have actually got me through this week, and to all my fellow competitors who have been absolutely astounding. There’s some amazing dances up there, and I’ll love watching the rest of the series.”
