Dan Walker gave an emotional speech as he and Nadiya Bychkova became the latest dancing duo to leave Strictly Come Dancing tonight. The 44-year-old had nothing but praise for his 32-year-old dance partner as he told viewers he wanted to quit due to feeling uncomfortable at first.
He told viewers: “The last 11 weeks have been amazing, I genuinely have loved every second of it.
“If I go back to the first day when we were asked to dance in front of some glitterballs, at that point, if there would’ve been a fire exit, I felt that uncomfortable, I’d have just walked away.
“But this amazing woman sort of grabbed me by the hands and brought me out onto this dance floor.
“I’m not a dancer, but she showed me that I can dance and that for me has been an absolutely incredible experience.”
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Dan’s exit came following a dance-off with AJ Odudu and Kai Widdrington.
He once again performed a Tango to Santa Maria by Gotan Project while their competitors danced their Salsa for a second time.
After both couples performed, judges Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse, Anton du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood chose who they’d like to save.
A unanimous vote concluded that AJ and Kai are through to next week’s semi-final.
“#Strictly has been a truly wonderful experience for me. I enjoyed every second.”
He went on to describe Nadiya as “a superstar” who is “kind, encouraging, funny, clever” and “the best teacher” he could’ve had.
“Thanks for the support & thanks for having us.”
He also thanked “the angry lot” who questioned his place on the show in recent weeks, which made him work harder.