Richie Anderson has become the second celebrity to leave this year’s Strictly Come Dancing.
The BBC Radio 2 personality and his professional dance partner Giovanni Pernice were voted off the BBC ballroom competition on Sunday.
It came after they landed in the dreaded dance-off alongside Fleur East and her partner Vito Coppola.
Both couples had landed mid-table on the leaderboard during the show’s annual Movie Night, with Richie and Giovanni scoring 27 points for their Samba to Hakuna Matata from The Lion King, and Fleur and Vito scoring 29 for their American Smooth to Part Of Your World from The Little Mermaid.
But after the judges’ scores were combined with the votes from the public, both couples had to dance again and fight to stay in the competition.
Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke all voted to save Fleur and Vito, meaning that Richie and Giovanni were eliminated.
However, head judge Shirley Ballas admitted she would have voted to save Richie and Giovanni.
After the result was announced, Richie said of his time on the show: “Do you know what as a Strictly fan I always thought it was a magical thing to be a part of and being here it really is and it’s not just the people that you see on camera, the judges, and you and Claud and the amazing people that I’ve got to meet on this show. The people behind the scenes in hair, make up, costume, Tasha our runner, Stef, Jas, everybody.
“I also want to thank this guy [Giovanni] as well, he’s been so amazing, and I feel so lucky that I’ve got to dance with you every day. Not only are you a fantastic dancer but you are also a fantastic guy on top of that. I want to thank all my family and friends and my other half Dean who is in the audience, I love you so much.”
Giovanni added: “I have to say it’s been an honour to be able to dance with you because I know how much you love Strictly Come Dancing, you really are a superfan. And I’m glad that you got to do this experience and glad that I got to do it with you. It’s been a shame its been too short for us but I hope you’ve enjoyed every single second of it, and it stays in your heart forever.
“Look at us we’ve gone out dressed as Timon and Pumbaa. So lovely jubbly, well done Richie.”
The remaining 13 couples will take to the floor once again when Strictly Come Dancing returns on Saturday at 6.30pm on BBC One.