Entertainment

Third celebrity waltzes off Strictly dancefloor

Another star has become a victim of the dreaded dance-off.
Another star has become a victim of the dreaded dance-off. Another star has become a victim of the dreaded dance-off.

Good Morning Britain presenter Charlotte Hawkins has jived for the final time on Strictly Come Dancing as she became the third celebrity to be kicked off the show.

The TV star, who had hoped to impress judges with a wedding-themed routine to Marry You by Bruno Mars, faced soap star Davood Ghadami in the dance-off.

At the end of Saturday night’s show, she shared the bottom of the leader board with TV chef Simon Rimmer and his partner Karen Clifton after picking up 19 points from the judges for their respective performances.

After learning the news, Hawkins said she was leaving the show “knowing I gave it my best and that’s all you can do”, and paid tribute to her professional partner Brendan Cole.

Hawkins told host Tess Daly: “I’ve had an amazing time, such an amazing time, it’s been brilliant from start to finish, it really has been.

“A huge thank you to Brendan who has just been fantastic, we’ve had such a great time going through all the dances, you’ve always been there for me, getting my back, there with the support.

Strictly Come Dancing 2017
Strictly Come Dancing 2017
Brendan Cole and Charlotte Hawkins (Guy Levy/BBC)

“A big thank you to everyone that voted, I had so much support from friends, colleagues, online, it’s been amazing and I loved the chance to come out here and dance.

“I was trying to get better, I’m going out knowing that I gave it my best and that’s all you can do.”

Cole added; “Quite often you stand in this position and you go, ‘hey it was our time to go’ and perhaps today it was our time to go.

Strictly Come Dancing 2017
Strictly Come Dancing 2017
Hawkins and Cole (Guy Levy/BBC)

“Not often you stand here with such sadness and go ‘I’m going to miss this and I’m going to miss hanging out with this girl’. I’m going to miss dancing with her, I’ve had one of the best Strictly’s in 15 years and it’s hard for me to even say that and I feel really emotional.”

After Hawkins and Cole performed their Jive again and Ghadami and his partner Nadiya Bychkova did their Viennese Waltz to Say You Love Me by Jessie Ware, the judges unanimously voted to save Ghadami and Bychkova.

Strictly Come Dancing 2017
Strictly Come Dancing 2017
Nadiya Bychkova and Davood Ghadami (Guy Levy/BBC)

Craig Revel Horwood said:  “I’d like to save the couple that I thought danced the best and who fixed a problem with a foot on the floor and that is Davood and Nadiya,” while Darcey Bussell said the duo gave “a stronger technical performance”.

Bruno Tonioli added: “Without a shadow of a doubt, I have to pick the couple who actually danced even better than Saturday night, Davood and Nadiya.”

Head Judge Shirley Ballas said she would have made the same decision.

Viewers on Saturday night saw Alexandra Burke break down in tears over the death of her mother after scoring the show’s highest total so far this series.

The singer burst into tears after collecting three 10s and a nine for her jive to Tina Turner’s Proud Mary as she said she wished her late mother, Melissa Bell, could have seen it.

Bell died on August 28, the day the stars filmed the launch of the BBC One programme.

Burke and Marquez’s score of 39 left them top of the leaderboard in week four, ahead of Gemma Atkinson and Aljaz Skorjanec, who received 35 for a paso doble to Coldplay’s Viva La Vida.

Aston Merrygold – who topped the table last week – was in third with partner Janette Manrara after a quickstep to Mr Blue Sky which scored 32.

Meanwhile, Susan Calman picked up a new high of 30 after a quickstep to Bring Me Sunshine, which she also danced on her wedding day.

The Sunday night results show featured a musical performance from American singer and songwriter, Gregory Porter singing a cover of the Nat King Cole song, Smile.

Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday at 6.35pm on BBC One.