Melanie Walters

Janette Manrara spoke about her husband becoming the latest person to get eliminated from the BBC show.

Aljaž Škorjanec and Melanie Walters were the latest couple to get eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing.

Now former professional dancer on the BBC show, Janette Manrara, has shared how her husband Aljaz is feeling after he wasn’t saved by the judges during Sunday’s results show (October 11) with his celebrity partner Melanie Walters.

While she appeared on This Morning to speak with Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley about her role in a new play, the 42-year-old discussed balancing motherhood alongside her demanding career, particularly while Aljaz features on the BBC programme. The couple are parents to three-year-old daughter Lyra.

After praising their family and support network, she said of combining work and home life: “As long as you plan, if you’ve got a plan and you need the village. Between the two things, you can make it work. Aljaz has no clue, by the way, he just says, ‘Where is she today and who’s got her?'”

She continued: “He’s an amazing dad. At the moment, obviously, he’s left the competition now with Melanie (Walters). He’s sad about leaving the show, but he’s also super happy because he’s going to spend so much time with her (Lyra) now, which is nice.”

Although Aljaz is no longer in the running to lift the Glitterball trophy, he’ll still appear in the professional group dances. Elsewhere, Janette spoke candidly about her feelings upon missing out on the presenting role on the BBC show, reports Wales Online.

When veteran hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman departed from their positions on the BBC programme, speculation was running wild about who might step into their shoes.

While many had tipped Janette as a frontrunner — having previously been a professional dancer on the show before leaving to front spin-off programme It Takes Two — it emerged that she had auditioned for the role but was unsuccessful. The presenting duties ultimately went to Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe.

Ben noted that Janette had previously been forthright about feeling ‘heartbroken’ at being overlooked for the role. She responded: “Yeah, I’ve talked about it on Jamie Laing’s podcast, it was (tough) because Strictly was such a huge part of my life, I was there for almost 14 years.

“Aljaz is still in the show, so I just hoped that it would go in that way for me. But, it didn’t, and that’s ok because I think life finds a way of still giving you that magic that is needed for you. I really wanted to act. I had been working on my acting skills for the last couple of years, actually.”

She continued: “Then, I did Roxie Hart in Chicago on tour, and I got the bug for serious acting, so I really started to push that narrative. I think life has a funny way of closing one door and opening another, and that’s exactly what happened.

“Now I watch Strictly and watch Aljaz and everybody on the show, and I’m just buzzing for them. I’ve been there, and I know how exciting that feeling is.”

This Morning continues weekdays on ITV from 10am. Strictly Come Dancing airs Saturdays on October 17 from 6:15pm.

Strcitly Come Dancing’s second couple have been eliminated following week three’s close leaderboard, as two of the BBC dance competition’s celebrities battled it out in a dance off

Gavin & Stacey star Melanie Walters was the second celebrity eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing, after losing a dance-off against footballer Shaun Wright-Phillips.

64-year-old Melanie, who played Gwen West on the hit sitcom, was second from bottom on the leaderboard after she and pro dancer Aljaz Skorjanec received only 17 points for her Charleston to Gina G’s Ooh Ah… Just a Little Bit. She was only one slot above Shaun and Alexis Warr, who got 15 points for his Quickstep to I’m A Believer by the Monkees.

Both danced the same routines for the dance off, leaving the judges split on who to send home. Craig Revel Horwood and Shirley Ballas both thought Shaun had performed better, but Motsi Mabuse voted to keep Melanie. Anton du Beke had been given the deciding vote and chose to keep Shaun.

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Craig said: “Due to enthusiasm and technical ability, I would like to save Shaun and Alexis.” Motsi went on to say that she was saving Melanie, while Anton added: “I thought this was a super dance-off, and both couples should be really pleased with themselves, because they both performed very, very well. I was looking for somebody to have an uplift in their performance from Saturday night, and one couple did that for me. A couple I thought, uh, that did do that, and I’d like to save would be Shaun and Alexis.”

After being voted off, Melanie said: “To tell you the truth, no word of a lie, I thought I was going to be out last week, so I’ve had an extra week with this beautiful soul^.”

Fans had expected Melanie and Shaun to be in the dance off after both were at the bottom of the leaderboard, especially given that the top dancer of the night, Delta Goodrem, had scored 33, earning more than double what Shaun did. But despite the difference in points, the leaderboard was condensed because many couples shared the same score. As such, Shaun was only ninth from the top, rather than 14th.

Still, many viewers were heartbroken to see Melanie go. One said: “Firstly, I feel terrible for Melanie because she’s such a lovely lady and I love her partnership with Aljaz. She warms my heart every time I watch her dance, and she’s exactly what the show is all about. Unfortunately, this wasn’t a good Charleston from Melanie and Aljaz, which is a shame as I’ve been rooting for her since the start of the competition.”

Another said: “I understand the result, but I wish that couple had one more week.” And a third added that they thought Shaun wouldn’t be far behind: “Shaun and Melanie were of a similar level dance wise imo so not a controversial dumping, I find Shaun more entertaining so happy enough for him to have another week but I suspect he’ll be gone next week unless the judges massively overscore him ala his salsa last week”.

Last week saw the first elimination, with Chris Appleton and Amy Dowden going home. Celebrity stylist Chris got emotional after the decision was made, as did Amy.

He said, post-emlimination: “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.”

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Strictly fans could see a change in the hosting format this weekend after complaints were made that it “didn’t work” last week.

While fans were happy to see Emma Willis hosting from the dance floor, they were unconvinced that Josh Widdicombe belonged in the role at her side.

“The Strictly producers will be in a bit of a pickle now,” one fan pointed out at the weekend. “The overwhelming view seems to be that Emma is perfect and should host downstairs alone, and Josh should be moved upstairs as he’s way more of a comedic, lighthearted chat sort of host.”

Former pro dancer Vincent Simone told the Mirror this week that he sees the upheaval in the presenting duties is a major “downside”.

“I think the only downside of this year is that there’s been way too many changes all in one go,” he said. “Some people like changes, like me. Some people don’t.

“I can imagine some people saying, ‘Oh, Tess and Claudia are not going to be presenting, I won’t be watching it,’ or, you know, some of the professionals that I used to love, they won’t be performing again, ‘I’m not going to watch it again.’

“So unfortunately, it is what it is. I think there’s been way too many new changes all at once.”