There were shockwaves on Strictly as Adam Peaty became the sixth contestant to be eliminated and his professional dance partner Katya Jones was left in tears.
Fans were surprised as Olympic swimmer Adam landed in the dreaded dance-off with CBBC star Tilly Ramsay at the halfway mark of the BBC dance contest.
Adam and Katya left the competition after coming in last on Saturday night’s leaderboard.
READ MORE:
They had failed to impress the judges who gave them just 27 points out of a possible 40.
A tearful Katya told him as they departed the dance floor: "I really think you deserve a lot more appreciation for what you’ve done and I was not ready for this."
Host Tess Daly told her: "I wish I had a tissue or could give you a hug."
Fans expressed their shock on Twitter.
One said: "It feels far too soon to see Adam go.
"On week one he seemed like he was going to be one of the celebs that would make it to the end and maybe even win! idk what went wrong."
Another wrote: "Every season you get a celebrity voted out too early. Adam is another unlucky one. Shame."
And another remarked: "Gutted. I had you down for a finalist at least, maybe the winner."
Adam and Katya performed their jive to Little Bitty Pretty One by Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers again in the dance-off.
Then Tilly and her partner Nikita Kuzmin danced their tango to Kings and Queens by Ava Max in a bid to impress the judges Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Anton Du Beke and Shirley Ballas and remain in the competition.
Craig, Motsi and Anton Du Beke all chose to save Tilly and Nikita on the BBC dance show.
This meant that with three votes to Tilly and Nikita, Adam and Katya would be leaving the competition regardless.
But head Judge Shirley Ballas said she would have decided to save Adam and Katya.
Asked by Tess about their time on the show, Adam said: "I have absolutely loved every single challenge.
"I’ve never had a challenge like this.
"As an Olympian for 16 years, I’ve pushed my body to places that I never thought it could be pushed.
"This is just a whole new ballgame and I’ve got so much respect for everyone that dances across the world and to all of these contestants and pros that put themselves on the line every single week, it’s just been a great experience."
And in a glowing tribute to her celeb partner, Katya said: "I was not ready to be in this position today. But looking back, this is you, you have done all of this.
"None of us expected you to come from the Olympics. After the dance off, I looked at him and he had tears in his eyes.
"Someone who’s an absolute unbeatable machine that we see defending his titles for seven years non-stop, to being emotional about dancing."
Adam had earned an army of fans in the contest for his hip-shaking moves and tight-fitting trousers, earning him the cheeky nickname 'Adam Peachy.'
