Fleur East has spoken out about her "rough" dance-off experience on Strictly Come Dancing.
The Sax X Factor singer, 34, was shocked to find herself in the bottom two over the weekend alongside her friend Richie Anderson.
Richie and Giovanni were given the boot after they danced a Samba to a Lion King track while Fleur and her partner Vito managed to get through with their dance to The Little Mermaid's Part of Your World.
Fleur appeared on Strictly's sister show on BBC Two today as she spoke for the first time in length about her near exit from the BBC Latin and ballroom competition.
The songstress explained how it was "rough" being in the bottom two, but it has made her even more determined to work hard and keep herself in the competition going forward.
Speaking on Strictly: It Takes Two this evening, Fleur said: "It was rough being in that dance-off.
"It was awful because obviously you realise 'oh my gosh, I've got to dance again and with all those lifts'. I was just relieved I got through it once and then I had to do it all again. Secondly, I love Richie and I get along with him so well."
She added: "He's such a joy and I hate having to dance against him but in a lot of ways, I'm grateful I have had that experience because it's made me realise how much I want to be here. Because I was like, no I want to dance again! I love it, it's so much fun."
The pair are now busy rehearsing for next week and her dance partner Vito admitted it was a bit of a knock for Fleur being in the bottom two but she is focused on "recharging" ahead of next week's show and is raring to go.
It comes after body language expert Judi James explained how Fleur's dance-off stint could make her and Vito's partnership stronger.
"To sit on all that emotion and still perform as well as she did in the dance-off showed an emotional resilience that Vito has been hoping for so the shock could have made them stronger going forward," Judi told The Mirror.
Whilst Fleur made it through, Richie was the one to depart the show. During an appearance on It Takes Two yesterday, he cried as he explained how he accepted him departing the show - but was "so proud" of himself.
“Every dance I’ve ever done, it might not have been technically perfect, but I’ve always gone out there and given it 110 percent. All you can do is hope it’s enough. I totally accept the result on Sunday night. It is what it is," he admitted.
As Richie shared how proud he was, Giovanni added: "You should see the effort he put in every day. He really wanted to get it right. I’m glad you got to do this experience and maybe come back for the Christmas special."
