After a samba to Hakuna Matata from The Lion King as part of Movie Week, Richie Anderson and Giovanni Pernice became the second couple to leave the BBC One dance contest on Sunday night. The Radio 2 presenter and his professional dance partner found themselves in the bottom two in the results show against Fleur East and Vito Coppola.
After Fleur reprised her American smooth to Part Of Your World from The Little Mermaid and Richie and Giovanni served up another samba, it was the end of the Strictly journey for the pair. Richie and Giovanni donned elaborate cuddly costumes for their performance with Richie dressed as mischievous meerkat Timon, while reigning Strictly champ Gio dressed as warthog Pumbaa.
Strictly fans flocked to social media to share the reason they think Richie and Giovanni got the chop so early in the competition. @liv_liv_liv__ tweeted: "The stupid outfits didn’t help Richie and Giovanni one bit #strictly."
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@EllenCook4 commented: "Genuinly gutted for Richie and Gio, but they were done so wrong by those outfits." @2610ami1 fumed: "Why was Giovanni having to wear that ridiculous panto outfit? So demeaning for the current champion. It was as if he and Richie were set up to fail #Strictly." And @racherivi added: "Richie never stood a chance with that dance and those outfits."
Pointless star Richard Osman tweeted: "Strictly is like the London Marathon, no-one dressed in an animal costume has ever won it." For their first interview following their elimination on Sunday night, Richie and Giovanni addressed the criticism as they chatted with Rylan on spin-off show Strictly - It Takes Two, with Giovanni saying it was "for the kids."
As they watched a clip of their dance Richie laughed: "Look at it. it looks like we we're on a stag do there in our costumes." On his performance on Saturday night, Richie said: "It was incredible, as a Strictly fan to open Movie Week it was such an honour. We were dancing in front of the judges, I had my tassels on, I got to do a samba, Craig got to smile, I loved it!"
Giovanni added: "It was fun, the whole concept was fun, dancing to Hakuna Matata, dressed like that, we did it for the kids. The technical bits were there, overall it was a good performance."
Richie continued: "You always know, going into the studio on a Saturday night, that it could be the last time. Every dance I have done, it might not have been technically perfect, but I have gone out there and given it some welly, and given it 110 per cent! And all you can do Rylan, is hope it’s enough, and as you can see from Saturday night and Sunday night, you can never be too sure. But I have just had the most amazing time!"
When asked if he was shocked about leaving the competition Richie said: "The only place I’ve ever danced before Strictly was in a nightclub, and I felt like I was bringing that same vibe into Strictly. We worked on trying to make me a bit more gracious, and more Latin and more ballroom, but you know what, I totally accept the result, it is what it is. I feel so lucky that I got to do Strictly Come Dancing, I’ve met some incredible people."
On being in the bottom two against Fleur and Vito, Giovanni said: "‘It’s not a nice position to be in, but in general, this competition, everyone is amazing this year. Fleur is fantastic, as is Vito, you don’t want to be in that position no matter who with. Unfortunately we had a Samba, and they did a fantastic dance. I wouldn’t have wanted to be a judge in that position, it was difficult."
Giovanni added about Richie: "I am proud, you should have seen the effort he put in the room each day, he really wanted to get it right. I am so glad he got to do this experience, and maybe he can come back for the Christmas special?"
Strictly - It Takes Two continues every weeknight at 6.30pm on BBC Two. Strictly Come Dancing airs on Saturday and Sunday nights on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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