Strictly Come Dancing professional Nadiya Bychkova has insisted she is "not ready to talk about" her exit from the show.
The dancer was paired with Olympian Tom Dean on the current series of the hit BBC dance competition. However, the pair became the first to be eliminated from the series following the public vote this weekend. The gold-medallist swimmer, 24, faced singer and actress Toyah Willcox, 66, in the dance-off and sadly lost his spot in the competition.
Tom and Nadiya performed a cha cha to Boogie Wonderland by Earth, Wind & Fire once again. During the live show on Saturday, they received a score of 20 from the judges and bringing his total to 43 after picking up 23 points last week for his tango to Harry Styles ’s song Golden.
Reflecting on his time on the show, Tom said: “I’ve had the best time the last few weeks and getting to work with Nadiya has been incredible. I wish I could have gone further and done more dances. I’ve had the most fun and I wish we could keep going longer and longer. We’ll still go out for loads of brunches I’m sure.”
However, soon after the results aired on Sunday night Nadiya posted a photo of herself with Tom on Instagram. It showed them both in their costumes as Nadiya emotionally wrote: "I really appreciate all the messages but I'm not ready to talk about what happened tonight just yet."
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She then added a pray hand emoji followed by a white love heart. During the show, Nadiya said she discovered Tom is not just a three-time Olympic champion but a “true gentleman”. She said: “He taught me how to work really hard and how to put everything in. And you know what? On this programme, sometimes to win, you don’t need to win, and that’s how I feel this year.”
The judges were unable to reach a unanimous decision between Tom and Toyah. Anton Du Beke wanted to keep Tom, while Motsi Mabuse and Craig Revel Horwood chose to save Toyah, meaning it was down to head judge Shirley Ballas. In the end, she decided to keep Toyah, sending Tom home.
However, viewers have been left furious with the decision as many have called the outcome a fix. One person said: "Absolute fix. They obviously have some deal to give Neil more air time this year. Poor Tom. Not on at all." Another added: "Tom has been robbed!! Toyah was by far the worse dancer!!! Absolute Fix."
Someone else wrote: "Jeez. First week and already a disgraceful decision. Wasn't your fault Tom." Another wrote: Totally disagree with the decision this evening. Tom was far better." Speaking of her decision, Shirley said: "I think both couples appeared a little bit nervous to start with and of course, this is our first dance-off.
"Both of them had some qualities, the first thing required as a dancer is timing and clarity. Both couples were a little bit in and out but one was a little bit more out than in, the same as what Motsi said. Due to musicality and other things that I had to pick and getting out there, your life depending on it, I have to save Toyah and Neil."
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