The first dance off took place tonight and for one celebrity it was the last dance on the BBC competition as famous faces have begun leaving the 2026 competition.
First celebrity is sent home from Strictly Come Dancing after dance off(Image: BBC)
Celebrity hairstylist Chris Appleton was emotional after he was cut from the Strictly Come Dancing competition after losing in a dance off against Jaime Winstone.
The 43-year-old who has worked with with Kim Kardashian and Jennifer Lopez, was near the bottom of the leaderboard with a score of 33 after two weeks of dancing. Both he and his pro partner Amy Dowden were tearful after getting the boot.
In the dance off Chris and pro partner Amy performed their Cha Cha to I’ll Be Ready from Baywatch, before Jaime and Carlos Gu performed their Cha Cha to Oh, Pretty Woman from Pretty Woman.
The judges voted unanimously to save Jaime meaning she will be back next weekend. Chris had said earlier in the weekend he didn’t want to let his partner Amy down. He said: “I am really trying but also really enjoying it.”
But his cha cha managed just 17 points from the judges and in week one he got just 15, amongst the lowest scores in the competition.
After his elimination, Appleton said: “I think it’s been such a whirlwind of emotion. I’m 43 and I got good at doing what I did – which is hair. To come and do something like this, I felt so out of my comfort zone and saw myself in a way I never saw myself, and it challenged me in ways I never knew I could be challenged.
“I am very grateful for everyone who has been involved. It’s been so amazing to be part of something that I grew up watching and got to be a part of it.
“The most important thing I think I will take from this show is having a friend in Amy because I genuinely love her and I am so grateful I met someone who has so much heart and passion.
“I only wish I could have done better for her because she deserves to go further in the competition, but we did put everything into it.”
The news means a second year of bad luck for pro Amy Dowden on the show. Dowden was also eliminated first last season after being paired with The Apprentice contestant and businessman Thomas Skinner. She said she was “heartbroken” to leave the competition. Chris said he felt bad he hadn’t made it further in the competition but had a “friend for life” in Amy.
On Saturday night, Strictly Come Dancing’s movie week episode saw a peak of 5.6 million viewers. Over the course of the two-and-a-half hour programme, the 15 celebrities and their professional partners took to the dancefloor to perform routines inspired by movies including Titanic, Risky Business, Mary Poppins and Saturday Night Fever.
Delta Goodrem was called a “force to be reckoned with” after she topped the Strictly Come Dancing leaderboard with 59 points from the first two weeks of dancing.
A Strictly spokesperson said: “Strictly’s movie week was the most watched programme of the night, with a peak of 5.6 million viewers. As ever, overnight ratings do not give the full picture of all those who watch in an on-demand world.”
This week’s episode aired at the same time as the Croatia v England match on ITV. It also had an average of 5.1 million viewers with a 44.3% share, a rise on last week’s overnight figures.
The first Strictly live show of the season – which aired last Saturday – attracted a peak of five million, with an average of 4.8 million tuning in as the stars performed with their professional partners live for the first time. That episode has now also been watched by more than six million viewers.
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