Entertainment

Chizzy: I had wanted to be on Strictly on my birthday

The actress was the first person to be eliminated from this year’s competition.
The actress was the first person to be eliminated from this year’s competition. The actress was the first person to be eliminated from this year’s competition.

Chizzy Akudolu said she was disappointed to have been booted off Strictly just before her birthday.

The Holby City actress had hoped to be waltzing around the dancefloor when she turns 44 on Saturday.

But she was eliminated from the BBC1 programme at the weekend after losing out to comedian Brian Conley in the dance-off.

Chizzy Akudolu and Pasha Kovalev
Chizzy Akudolu and Pasha Kovalev (Kieron McCarron/BBC/Kieron McCarron)
Chizzy Akudolu and Pasha Kovalev (BBC)

Speaking on BBC2 spin-off show It Takes Two, Akudolu said: “I am really sad to go first. I’m really sad to go.

“Also it’s my birthday on Saturday and I would have been dancing on live TV on my birthday.”

When host Zoe Ball suggested she “storm the stage” and dance anyway, a tearful Akudolu quipped: “In my birthday suit?”

The actress thanked her fans and her professional partner Pasha Kovalev, saying he had never before been eliminated from the competition so early on.