Motsi Mabuse
"It’s been the best experience and I don’t regret a single minute of it, so thank you everyone so much. I’m gutted to leave."
The judge said “the decision was made for me” following Judi Love and Adam Peaty's dance-off.
"It is still a pandemic, we cannot ignore the fact as much as we want our lives back."
Motsi has said the issues faced by Shirley Ballas on the panel are indicative of a bigger problem for women.
The good news is that the Head Judge has promised "13 weeks of pure joy".
The pandemic saw huge changes to last year's series of the BBC dance show.
Motsi was visibly moved by seeing her sister and Bill Bailey's victory in this year's final.
"Support other women. PERIOD!!" the Strictly Come Dancing judge wrote on Instagram.
The judge encouraged viewers to keep using the #strictlykindness hashtag.