By CODIE BULLEN, SHOWBUSINESS CORRESPONDENT and OLIVIA KEMP, SHOWBUSINESS REPORTER and KIRSTEN MURRAY, SENIOR SHOWBUSINESS REPORTER
Published: | Updated:
Dame Sarah Storey has become the latest celebrity to be voted off Strictly Come Dancing.
The judges all chose to save House of the Dragon star Bethany Antonia and her partner Nancy Xu in the dance-off during last night’s show.
Dame Storey, Britain’s most successful Paralympian with 30 Paralympic medals, including 19 golds, was partnered with professional dancer Julian Caillon, who is in his second year on the BBC show.
Despite being praised by the judges for their ‘attitude, character and dramatics’, the pair found themselves at the bottom of the leaderboard on Saturday, scoring just 21 points for their Tango.
Viewers were also quick to question the song choice, with some blaming Shania Twain’s That Don’t Impress Me Much for the couple’s struggles.
Sad to be leaving the competition, Sarah said: 'Well I obviously have had the most amazing teacher which has been the biggest blessing.
Dame Sarah Storey has become the latest celebrity to be voted off Strictly Come Dancing
Dame Storey, Britain’s most successful Paralympian with 30 Paralympic medals, including 19 golds, was partnered with professional dancer Julian Caillon, who is in his second year on the BBC show
'I am really proud to have had a few weeks learning from this incredible chap and I've enjoyed every minute.'
Her partner Julian praised the star as he said: 'Look committed is the perfect word, once you get to know Sarah you understand why she is the GOAT. She is so hard working, so dedicated. Absolute commitment.
She is tough on herself because she expects the best because she is the best. I am so impressed by your work ethic, I've had an absolute blast and I am so glad you got to do that because you are amazing and you can dance. I need you to know that. You can dance.'
Sarah added: 'Thank you for dealing with my perfectionism... you always believed that I could do something better and every Saturday I always did the very best dance of the week and I got to do it twice tonight which was amazing.'
The elimination came during the fourth week of the competition, with the remaining couples taking to the dancefloor for Icons Week and performing to hits by musical greats including Elton John, Shania Twain, ABBA and Adele.
Delta Goodrem, 41, did not perform after suffering a rib injury. The Australian singer and her partner Kai Widdrington, 31, received a bye and hope to return next weekend.
Earlier in the week, Caillon, 31, told the Daily Mail about never taking to the dance floor without his ‘lucky’ grey pants
But, ironically, the professional dancer’s trusty ‘lucky’ pants failed to save him from an early exit.
The judges all chose to save House of the Dragon star Bethany Antonia and her partner Nancy Xu in the dance-off during last night’s show
She told her professional partner: 'I am really proud to have had a few weeks learning from this incredible chap and I've enjoyed every minute'
‘They’re just these grey trunks from Colombia. They’re nice and comfortable in all the right bits and hold everything in all the right places,’ the 31-year-old Australian told the Daily Mail.
‘They’ve not let me down yet, so I’ll keep wearing them.’
Elsewhere, Storey, 48, revealed that she has been approached by BBC bosses to appear on Strictly ‘every year or so’ since 2012, but repeatedly turned it down.
She said: ‘My children were little. I always had races in the autumn and I always wanted to be able to give 100 per cent.
‘I’m really glad I waited because it’s the best thing you can do, but you need to be here 100 per cent. You can’t be halfway doing something else.’
The athlete, who retired from the elite sport in July, shares Louisa, 13, and Charlie, nine, with her husband Barney Storey, 49, himself a three-time Paralympic cycling champion.