Nikita Kanda’s hopes for a fantasy movie ending on Strictly Come Dancing 2023 have been dashed.
After appearing in the dance-off for the second week in a row, the TV and radio host became the second celebrity to be ousted from the competition tonight.
While the judges elected to rescue Nikita and her partner Gorka Márquez over Les Dennis and Nancy Xu last week, she did not have the same success this week.
Former Love Island star Zara McDermott and her boyfriend Graziano Di Prima were pitted against one other in the dreaded dance-off.
Zara and Graziano took the stage first, doing their Paso doble to The Puss Suite from Puss In Boots, followed by Nikita and Gorka’s Jive to Kids in America from Clueless.
The vote wound up being unanimous to save Zara and Graziano, who judge Craig Revel Horwood said had ‘both technique and theatricality’.
Motsi Mabuse stated that Nikita and Gorka made certain mistakes, and Anton Du Beke agreed with her.
Finally, chief judge Shirley Ballas admitted that she, too, would have voted in the same manner.
Nikita, 28, revealed that she didn’t want her time on Strictly to end just yet, admitting that she felt she’d let Gorka down.
‘I don’t want to leave yet, I feel like I’ve let him down. I’ve had the best time and I love all my Strictly family, I’m going to miss you all,’ she said after their elimination.
‘This has been a dream come true, I’m so grateful. I’ve got to say the biggest thankyou to Gorka, he has been the biggest support and I’ve had the best time ever.’
Gorka, 33, said how happy he was of Nikita’s progress in the competition, especially given her lack of prior dancing expertise.
‘I am beyond proud of her, for someone that doesn’t have any dance experience or performance experience to come on this show and dance in front of millions of people – for three weeks, I think it’s incredible,’ he said.
‘You should be very proud of yourself, you have never let me down and I am very proud of you. This show is going to teach you so many things about yourself that you can take with you and I take incredible memories. I’ve never laughed so much in three weeks than I did with you.’
Strictly Come Dancing returns next Saturday at 6.30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
