Eight Strictly couples head to Blackpool as another hopeful is booted off

Eight couples will put their best foot forward at Blackpool’s glamorous Tower Ballroom next weekend after Strictly Come Dancing waved goodbye to another contestant.

It was the last dance for This Morning’s Ruth Langsford as she failed to impress judges with her foxtrot to Bobby Darin’s Mack The Knife, with partner veteran Anton Du Beke.

She was unanimously voted off by the panel on Sunday night’s result episode of the BBC One dance contest, following her dance off with Paralympian Jonnie Peacock and his partner Oti Mabuse.

The daytime television presenter, 57, said: “I’m very sad to be leaving, of course I am as I’ve had the most wonderful time. It’s an incredible experience.

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“I’m most sad to be leaving this man Anton who has been so kind to me. He is the most brilliant teacher, he is a beautiful dancer, he is so patient, but also he has made the whole experience fun. And that’s what I came here to do; I wanted to learn how to dance, I wanted to have fun and we have had fun all along the way.

“We have laughed and laughed and laughed. He is such a lovely man. I’m very disappointed that Blackpool was so close and I really wanted to do that for Anton, not so much for me – I would have loved to have gone of course – but this man is the ballroom king and he should have been dancing in the competition at Blackpool.

“It was so touching to see Eamonn and Jack, my 15-year-old son, so emotional and it’s been wonderful having them here every week. The whole thing has been incredible.”

Langsford and Du Beke came bottom of the leader board on Saturday night after judge Craig Revel Horwood told them: “Once you got into the foxtrot, you were actually trotting like a horse.”

Meanwhile, singer Alexandra Burke and partner Gorka Marquez scored the highest marks of the night, 38, as they performed the first Argentine tango of the evening. EastEnders star Davood Ghadami and Nadiya Bychkova were also rewarded with a 38 for their entertaining charleston to The Lambeth Walk.

Elsewhere, Debbie McGee dropped to third position after an error in her salsa with Giovanni Pernice, while things got serious with comedian Susan Calman and Kevin Clifton, who scored a healthy 27 with their tango.

:: Strictly Come Dancing continues on BBC One from the Blackpool venue at 6.45pm on Saturday.