The 48-year-old Paralympian was voted off the BBC One dancing competition after she and partner Julian Caillon failed to wow the judges with a tango to Shania Twain's “That Don’t Impress Me Much”.
They wound up in a dance-off against House of the Dragon star Bethany Antonia and partner Nancy Xu, and were sadly voted out as Anton Du Beke, Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse all chose to save Bethany and Nancy.
Dame Sarah Storey & Julian Caillon faced off against Bethany Antonia & Nancy Xu during the results show on Sunday
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Speaking to The Standard, Dame Sarah opened up on her experience of putting “100% faith into another person that you’ve only just met”.
“Then, you see how that brings joy to people,” she smiled as looked back on her journey with Callion.
She said she was grateful to “have had the opportunity” to meet people whose paths she “might otherwise never have crossed”, adding the only other place she could have met Caillon would be a Hyrox race.
“ And the same for all the people that are on it - the cast and the people behind the scenes,” she said warmly.
Dame Sarah Storey & Julian Caillon following their elimination
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“You are learning to dance in this incredible environment and it's a really intense thing to do,” she stressed, adding that the connections she made on the show enhanced her experience.
Caillon, who joined Strictly last year as a professional, agreed and shared his views of why the show is special to viewers.
“There's so much going on, you know, everywhere in the world that this little pocket of joy that we get to be a part of on a Saturday and share with the country and share with millions of people even around the world.
“That's what's so special about it and kind of what's amazing to be a part of.”
Gold medal-winning Paralympic athlete Dame Sarah Storey has become the third celebrity to leave the competition
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Following Dame Sarah’s elimination, the third of this series, some fans took to social media to vent that the Paralympian had been “let down” by the Icons theme.
“The right person won in that dance off, having said that, Sarah was definitely sabotaged by that stupid theme. Imagine dancing a tango to a jolly pop song. A tango is fierce full of passion, not a happy go lucky dance. The theme let her down,” one wrote on X.
“I’m sorry but I’m calling sabotage. How are you going to give Sarah a Tango and give her a poppy song to dance to? I feel like this theme did them a disservice. Massively,” another added.
She shared her disappointment at her eviction while chatting to BBC presenter Abi Clarke moments after her departure on the spin-off show, Strictly: Lights Up.
“We said to each other backstage, you’ve just got to take on board those comments and put them into practice immediately, and so, that’s what we did,” she said.
“I’m also disappointed that I don’t get to bring it on Monday to try and do the same again.”