GAVIN & STACEY'S MELANIE WALTERS ELIMINATED FROM STRICTLY COME DANCING

Gavin & Stacey actress Melanie Walters and her professional partner Aljaž Škorjanec have become the second couple eliminated from this series of Strictly Come Dancing. The pair scored 17 from the judges for a Charleston to Ooh Aah… Just a Little Bit by Gina G, leaving them in the bottom two. They faced former footballer Shaun Wright-Phillips and partner Alexis Warr in Sunday's dance-off, after Wright-Phillips and Warr scored 15 for a quickstep to I'm a Believer by The Monkees. Judge Motsi Mabuse voted to save Walters and Škorjanec, but Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood chose to save Wright-Phillips and Warr instead.

Revel Horwood said he "didn't love" the Charleston, while Mabuse told Walters to "keep going." It was Walters's second successive week in the dance-off, after scoring 15 for a cha cha cha in the opening week and a further 15 for a waltz to Edelweiss from The Sound of Music during Movie Week. Walters, who is from Swansea, said goodbye to the cast in Welsh, telling them "diolch yn fawr iawn," meaning "thank you very much." She is best known for playing Gwen West in Gavin & Stacey, a role she has held since the sitcom began in 2007 and reprised for its 2024 Christmas special.

Walters and Škorjanec are due to appear on companion programme It Takes Two on Monday, the BBC said. The remaining 13 couples continue next week for what organisers have billed as "icons week." Sunday's results show also featured a group dance from judges Ballas and Du Beke with professional dancers. A further performance saw musician Jalen Ngonda sing Burning Temptation, accompanied by dancers Neil Jones and Lethabo Monametsi.