Olympic swimmer Tom Dean has admitted he’s still getting his head around how things played out on Strictly Come Dancing over the weekend.
During Sunday’s results show, Tom became the first of this year’s Strictly contestants to be sent home after landing in the dance-off with musician Toyah Willcox.
Many Strictly fans were unhappy with the judges’ decision to eliminate Tom, particularly as Toyah had been at the bottom of the leaderboard both weeks of the contest, while the gold medallist had been near the middle overall.
Speaking on Monday’s edition of Strictly spin-off It Takes Two, Tom shared: “I am gutted, there’s no two ways about it.
“I have thought about it loads and [professional dancer Nadiya Bychkova and I] have spoken about it loads. I did give it my all and there was nothing more I could have given.”
Tom revealed he’d “loved every part of” his Strictly experience, adding that “for it to get cut short like that was just gutting” and a “massive shock”.
“I just wish I could have kept going, I really really do,” he added.
Meanwhile, his professional partner Nadiya Bychkova previously told her Instagram followers she was “not ready to talk about what happened tonight just yet” after the results show aired.
The remaining 14 Strictly pairs are now in training for this year’s Movie Week special, which will see them performing brand new routines inspired by a variety of different films.
Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday night at 6.25pm on BBC One.