The eighth celebrity has been eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing.
On Sunday (17 November), opera singer Wynne Evans became the latest contestant to be voted off the BBC competition after a dance off with Gladiators star Montell Douglas.
Both Evans and Douglas had to perform again after finding themselves in the bottom two following Saturday night’s episode, which was broadcast from Blackpool and saw Miranda actor Sarah Hadland steal the show.
All four judges opted to save Douglas and her professional partner Johannes Radebes from elimination, sending Evans and Katya Jones home. The decision comes one week after head judge Shirley Ballas controversially saved Evans to send home Shayne Ward.
The Only Way is Essex star Pete Wicks proved his popularity with viewers after sailing through to the next round despite being bottom of the leaderboard.
Evans said his time on the show had been “wonderful”, stating: “If I can come and do Strictly and last until week nine, then anybody can get out there and dance and have a brilliant time.
“Strictly is such a brilliant family, such a precious family, that I want everybody here in this room and at home to look after it for the generations to come because it is a wonderful, wonderful thing.
Jones added: “To be honest with you, the smile hasn’t left my face since the first day of our training, since the day we got partnered up.
She said Evans had “made this experience so joyous and so full of laughter”, telling him: “I’m sure everybody was jealous because you’re the kind of guy that everybody wants in their life. You bring light, you bring laughter, you bring charisma, you fill up every room you walk into with those qualities”
Evans described being partnered with Jones as “amazing” and said he was “thankful to have met” her.
The opera singer’s time on Strictly was hit with controversy just weeks in due to a furore caused by videos showing his background interactions with Jones.
After viewers detected something might be “off” between the pair, they issued a statement claiming they were just playing a “silly joke” on each other.
The remaining Strictly 2024 contestants include Douglas, Hadland, Wicks, Tasha Ghouri, Chris McCausland, JB Gill and Jamie Borthwick.
