Strictly star forced to leave BBC show immediately as they issue emotional statement
Another couple were eliminated from the competition.
Dame Sarah Storey has become the third celebrity eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing. The Olympic gold medallist, 48, found herself at the bottom of the leaderboard following her performance on Saturday (October 17) night. As part of Icons Week, Sarah and her professional partner Julian Caillon performed the Tango to That Don’t Impress Me Much by Shania Twain. Craig Revel Horwood, Mosti Mabuse and Shirley Ballas awarded the pair just a 5 for the routine, while Anton Du Beke gave them a 6. This took their total to 21, which left them trailing at the bottom of the leaderboard.
During tonight's results show, Sarah and Julian landed in the dreaded dance-off alongside House of the Dragon actress Bethany Antonia and her professional partner Nancy Xu.
After the two couples performed their routines for a second time, the four judges unanimously decided to save Bethany and Nancy, meaning Sarah and Julian were immediately axed from the competition.
After her exit, Sarah praised her professional partner, describing him as "the most amazing teacher".
"That has been the biggest blessing and getting to learn different dances is something I've never done, and never even thought I could do," Sarah continued.
"I'm really proud to have been able to have a few weeks learning from this incredible chap and I've enjoyed every minute."
Julian agreed with host Emma Willis that "committed" is the perfect word to describe Sarah. He added: "She is so hard-working, she is so dedicated. She's tough on herself because she expects the best, but that's because she is the best."
Turning to his partner, the Australian dancer said: "I've been so impressed with your work ethic. I've had an absolute blast and I'm so glad that you got to do that because you are amazing and you can dance. I need you to know that. You can dance."
Sarah added: "Thank you for dealing with my perfectionism. I wasn't always the best dancer in a training room. I was really hard on myself and got in my head.
"But you always believed that I could do something better and every Saturday I always did the very best dance of the week and I got to do it twice tonight which was incredible."
Sharing their thoughts on the results, several fans were devastated to see Sarah and Julian leave.
"I’m so unbelievably proud of all this team has achieved! Sarah was improving every single week and Jules put so much dance content but also fun into their routines! He really is the best pro and the biggest hype man. Team Lift & Shift, you’ll be missed," one fan penned on X.
Another agreed: "I'll miss Sarah & Julian they had such a lovely partnership. She worked hard and her performances were improving."
A third posted: "I'll really miss Sarah and Julian, what a lovely partnership."
