Strictly: Shayne and Nancy are eliminated
Strictly Come Dancing viewers were left heartbroken for Shayne Ward as he shared the poignant reason why he had wanted to reach the show's Blackpool special.
Partnered with the talented Nancy Xu, Shayne became the seventh celebrity to bid farewell to the competition on Sunday night, missing out on the chance to dazzle in Blackpool's legendary Tower Ballroom.
In a tense results segment, Shayne, 40, and Nancy, 33, found themselves in the dreaded dance-off against fellow competitors Wynne Evans and Katya Jones.
Prior to the judges' vote, Shayne said of his position in the bottom two: "I'm gutted, I'm not going to lie. I'm going to do everything I can by coming out here and giving Nancy everything I have. One thing I want to do is be able to get to Blackpool so my mum can see me dance at least once. So that's all I can do!"
Both couples had to perform their routines again with Shayne and Nancy performing their Rumba to Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper while Wynne and Katya performed their American Smooth to Grace Kelly by MIKA.
After both couples had danced a second time, the judges delivered their verdicts where they had a split decision, forcing head judge Shirley Ballas to have the final say.
Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse both chose to save Shayne and Nancy. However, Anton Du Beke chose to save Wynne and Katya. With two votes in favour of Shayne and Nancy, the deciding decision came down to head judge Shirley, 64, who decided to save Wynne and Katya, meaning Shayne and Nancy would sadly be leaving the competition.
After learning he would be leaving the show, Shayne said: "I just want to say, you guys up there [the other contestants in the Clauditorium] are a dream. Every single day, coming in here and seeing you guys you helped me so much. I want to say thank you to the audience as well, for always being amazing for us all. This has been, honestly, one of the best things I've ever done.
"I'm proud that I made it to eight weeks as a novice dancer. A massive thank you goes to this incredible human right next to me [Nancy], who has put so much fire in me and made me believe that I can actually achieve more if I let myself go. I'm sorry it didn't work out to the end, but I'm super proud that I got to meet you [to Nancy] and dance with you, so thank you."
Taking to Twitter, now X, viewers were left heartbroken that Shayne wouldn't get to go to Blackpool. One person said: "Aw I’m sad for Shayne, he really wanted to go to Blackpool so his mum could finally see him dance. As a Northerner he probably has many childhood memories there #Strictly", a different account wrote: "Shayne was robbed and his mum won't get to see him dance at Blackpool #strictly" while another added: "Why didn’t Shirley save Shayne so his mum could watch him dance in Blackpool? #StrictlyComeDancing #strictly."
Strictly Come Dancing returns on Saturday 16 November at 6:45pm for a special evening from the iconic Blackpool Tower Ballroom with the results show on Sunday 17 November at 7:20pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
