Alex Kingston has become the 10th celebrity to leave Strictly Come Dancing after being sent home by the judges.
The ER and Doctor Who star’s departure arrived after an injury left her struggling through a Cha-cha-cha – and the judges were left unconvinced by her second attempt in the dance off.
Kingston competed against EastEnders actor Balvinder Sopal, who narrowly survived the bottom two for the fifth time this series after being saved by this week’s head judge Shirley Ballas.
Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse called the choice “difficult”, but opted to save Sopal, with Anton Du Beke the only judge to save Kingston from elimination.
Kingston said she made it further in the competition than she thought she would, telling host Tess Daly: “I had never in my wildest dreams imagined that I would last this long.”
She continued: “It’s been just the most incredible journey for me. I feel quite proud of myself because I’ve loved the process, you can tell by my smile.”
Kingston called her professional partner Johannes Radebe a friend for life, with Radebe stating: “I’ve never grinned as much as I have in the last few weeks. Thank you for being a trooper. I will hold on to the memories.”
He added: “As far as the dancing goes, I think we’ve achieved what we wanted to achieve.”
Kingston’s exit means she misses out on next week’s quarter-finals, Musicals Week, which will see Sopal, Lioness Karen Carney, YouTuber George Clarke, Emmerdale star Lewis Cope and actor Amber Davies battle it out for a place in the penultimate episode of the 2025 series.
The BBC has also teased a brand new “high-stakes dance challenge” after this week’s Instant Dance challenge, which saw the couples perform an improvised 40-second routine, proved a hit among viewers.
Earlier in the episode, Sopal predicted her placement in the dance off with a comedic quip made during Du Beke’s criticism of her performance.
This week’s scores were combined with those amassed during the special episode filmed in Blackpool last week. This was due to the fact that La Voix was forced to withdraw from the competition after sustaining an injury.
Carney and Davies both received perfect scores of 40 with their latest performances, but it was Cope who was the first to get four tens in Blackpool.
Strictly returns to BBC One on Saturday 6 December at 6.50pm.
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