UK

Daniel's through to next week's Strictly but sprinter Thomas exits

Professional dancer Ola Jordan with sprinter Iwan Thomas on Strictly Come Dancing 
Professional dancer Ola Jordan with sprinter Iwan Thomas on Strictly Come Dancing  Professional dancer Ola Jordan with sprinter Iwan Thomas on Strictly Come Dancing 
By Jennifer Maloney and Kate Ferguson

SINGER Daniel O'Donnell has hot footed his way through to next week's Strictly Come Dancing after being told "he had fantastic rhythm".

The Donegal crooner wowed the audience on Saturday night as he and professional dance partner Kristina Rrihanoff performed the Charleston.

The BBC studio was bedecked in green and had a race course theme as Daniel and Kristina as they stepped out onto the floor to impress the judgesracking up a total of 23.

Head judge Len Goodman said after the dance: "It was a tad on the safe side. However, if I was a bookie, you are odds on to be back next week.

Fellow judge Bruno Tonioli commented: "You nearly placed at Ascot. You need more than a steady canter. You need to gallop all the time. You have got to keep it going - it is all about energy."

Former ballerina Darcey Bussell was impressed, adding: "For me, you had great energy throughout. Honestly, I was not expecting that. You had great bounce and you were alert.

Craig Revel Horwood critisied some technical aspects of the dance but added: "You have fantastic rhythm and there is a dancer lurking within."

Daniel's wife Majella took to Twitter to congratulate her husband.

Dancer Rhianoff also thanked Daniel's fans for voting

Meanwhile, former sprinter Iwan Thomas said going up against the Strictly Come Dancing judges was "more nerve-racking than the Olympics" as he became the first celebrity to leave the show.

The athlete, 41, barely made it out of the starting blocks as he lost the first dance-off of the BBC One series.

He spent his career competing against some of the finest sportsmen in the world, including Michael Johnson - widely seen as one of the best runners ever.

But Thomas revealed that a few minutes on the Strictly dance floor was scarier than competing for gold on the racing track.

He said: "It was scary. I had my whole career against Michael Johnson, it was pretty amazing to look across at him and think 'blimey, he's fast'. But it was something I had trained for. It was my job. You know you are good at it. I knew I trained all year round.

"Training was the hardest bit about athletics, racing was quite easy.

"The problem I found on Strictly was that it was subjective and it is hard."

Thomas said he is "quite a sensitive bloke" and it was tough to take the harsh criticism dished out by the judging panel.

He added: "It is more nerve-racking really, in many ways, than the Olympics."

Thomas and his professional partner Ola Jordan failed to get the judges' hearts racing with their routines.

Their cha cha cha, danced to Sexy And I Know It by LMFAO, was branded "murder" by judge Bruno Tonioli and got them just 13 marks.

And Thomas lost out to Jamelia and her partner Tristan MacManus in the dance-off - having bravely finished his dance despite breaking one of his shoes during the exuberant routine.

The runner said "the truth can hurt" and conceded he was not one of the best dancers in the show and was never going to win the glitterball trophy.

But he said he "cherished" his time on the competition and will be tuning in every week to see how his fellow celebrities are faring.

And he revealed that his stint on the show may have been short but it has given him the confidence to throw some shapes on a Saturday night out in his home town of Southampton.

He said: "I'm not the kind of guy who would dance on a night out, but now I've done Strictly maybe I'll have the confidence."