Strictly: Sam Quek worries she's 'let the side down'
Strictly Come Dancing star Sam Quek was left teary on Saturday's show following disappointing feedback from the judges.
In the recent episode, Sam, 36, and her dance partner Nikita Kuzmin took to the floor with a quickstep set to Natasha Bedingfield's Unwritten. Despite high hopes, their performance fell short, eliciting disappointing yet constructive remarks from the judges, with Shirley Ballas, the head judge, comforting Sam by affirming her as one of the competition's strongest female contenders.
After the feedback, an emotional Sam confessed: "I'm genuinely gutted, I'm getting a bit upset as I was confident coming into this, it's like sport isn't it? You get knocked down, you get back up!"
While chatting with host Claudia Winkleman, Sam expressed her disappointment: "I'm just so disappointed because that could have been our moment. We felt it coming into it, I was confident. Something happened, which people don't need to know about because I don't want to make excuses, it's not what it's about, it's just about delivering in the moment and unfortunately... I kinda let the side down but Nikita has always got my back, he's always got my back!"
Nikita immediately countered Sam's words over "letting the side down" insisting: "No, no, no!" and offering solace to his upset celebrity partner, who praised him for his unwavering support. Sam concluded: "I'm just so guilty of being a perfectionist sometimes and that can be a detriment to me!", reports the Mirror.
It comes after DIY SOS presenter Nick Knowles became the third contestant to leave Strictly after a nail-biting dance off against former Coronation Street actor Shayne last weekend. Nick had just returned to the dancing competition last weekend, having missed out on movie week following an injury to his knee.
Nick, 62, and his professional dance parter Luba Mushtuk received 21 points out of 40 from the judges for their Charleston to Rain On The Roof from the film Paddington 2 and was second from the bottom of the leaderboard last weekend.
When asked by host Tess Daly about his time on the show, Nick said at the time: "I've really, really been surprised by how much I've loved doing it and by two things that happen.
"One is how much you care each week, and the other is how much you don’t want to let down your partner. The only reason I could do this is simply because of Luba’s changes, she's been amazing. There are some amazing dancers up there, and I will love watching the rest of the series."
A tearful Luba added: "I’ve never met someone as determined as you, and I remember you saying that if you do your best, you’ll be very happy. I think you did more than your best. Thank you." Prior to Nick, Toyah Willcox was eliminated from the show and Tom Dean was the first star to leave the series.
Strictly Come Dancing airs Saturdays and Sundays on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
