Who left Strictly last night? Here's which celebrity was voted off Strictly Come Dancing 2021 this week

The eighth week of Strictly Come Dancing saw the departure of another celebrity from the BBC dance show as the 19th series of the show continues.

Last week’s show saw Tilly Ramsay, daughter of the Scottish-born notorious chef Gordon Ramsay, make her shock exit from the competition with her partner, Nikita Kuzmin.

The Strictly results show on December 5 saw another tense dance-off take place between two much-loved couples and another bittersweet exit for a beloved celebrity contestant.

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But which celebrity was voted off Strictly last night?

Here’s who became the tenth celebrity to leave Strictly Come Dancing 2021 this weekend – and what happened.

What happened on Strictly this weekend?

AJ Odudu and Kai Widdrington during the dress rehearsal for Saturday's live show of BBC1's Strictly Come Dancing (Image credit: Guy Levy/BBC/PA)

This weekend’s Strictly Come Dancing saw dramatic performances and tumbles on the dance floor for several couples, with typically top performing couples on the BBC dance show wobbling with failed lifts and partner drops.

John Whaite dramatically dropped celebrity partner Johannes Radebe during the duo’s salsa to We Are Family, but managed to redeem the performance and land in the middle of the Strictly scoreboard.

Likewise, BBC DJ and presenter AJ Odudu failed to land the final lift in her performance with professional partner Kai Widdrington.

Rose Ayling-Ellis and partner Giovanni Pernice continued to shine, shooting to joint top position of the Strictly leaderboard with an American smooth routine to This Will Be An Everlasting Love by Natalie Cole.

Nadiya Bychkova and Dan Walker with AJ Odudu and Kai Widdrington as they wait for the judges decision. (Image credit: Guy Levy/BBC/PA)

The couple, earning 39 points for their Love Actually-inspired performance, were praised by Shirley Ballas as delivering “a performance of a lifetime”, as the judges celebrated a dramatic lift not seen on Strictly before.

Who left Strictly Come Dancing this week?

The public vote this week saw BBC Breakfast presenter and journalist Dan Walker get voted off Strictly Come Dancing after he and professional dance partner Nadiya Bychkova impressed the judges with their tango but could not outshine the continually high standard of performance from AJ Odudu and Kai Widdrington.

In Saturday night’s show, judge Shirley Ballas commended Walker on having “feeling of a ballroom dancer” in his performance, with Craig Revel Horwood telling the couple that their dance was “my favourite of all the dances you have done” and “you should be so proud of yourself.”

BBC Breakfast presenter Dan Walker with Nadiya Bychkova after he became the 10th celebrity to leave BBC1's Strictly Come Dancing. (Image credit: Guy Levy/BBC/PA)

But Anton Du Beke and Motsi Mabuse disagreed, with Du Beke calling Dan and Nadiya’s tango “not the best” while Mabuse said it appeared that Dan “lost a bit of control” at times.

Dan and Nadiya fell to second-bottom on the Strictly scoreboard with AJ and partner Kai – in a rare plummet for one of Strictly’s top couples this season.

AJ and Kai earned a score of 30 for their “dance disaster” salsa routine, with Revel Horwood’s words capturing general disappointment with the couple’s performance.

But the duo were ultimately saved from the Strictly chopping block against Dan and Nadiya, who earned 31 points on Saturday night.

“It was an immense dance-off, congratulations to both of you,” Du Beke said, telling Dan and Nadiya: “You danced brilliantly, but the edge just goes, for me, to AJ and Kai.”

In response to the judges’ decision, Dan joked that he would have likewise chosen to save AJ and Kai from leaving Strictly before the semi-final.

“When I go back to the first day when I was asked to dance in front of some glitter balls, at that point, if there had been a fire exit, I’d have just walked away,” Dan said.

Thanking his dance partner Nadiya, Dan said: “I’m not a dancer, but she showed me that I can dance, and that for me, this has been an absolutely incredible experience.

“Thank you to the judges, your feedback every week has been brilliant, and really constructive and helpful, and everyone over there, my fellow competitors, have been brilliant.”

He later tweeted: “I’m sad it’s over but I’m so thankful it happened

"We had an amazing run & the right 4 people are in the SF - Rose, John AJ & Rhys are all brilliant.

"I’m so glad everyone has seen the real @NadiyaBychkova this series.

"She taught me how to dance… I taught her cricket”

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What time will Strictly be on this weekend?

Strictly Come Dancing’s semi-final will air on Saturday December 11 at 7.05pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

The Sunday night results show for the semi-final will fall on December 12 at 7.20pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

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