SHAUN WRIGHT-PHILLIPS EXITS STRICTLY COME DANCING

Shaun Wright-Phillips became the fourth celebrity to leave Strictly Come Dancing after he and professional partner Alexis Warr lost a dance-off to actor Jaime Winstone and Carlos Gu. Judges Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse voted to save Winstone and Gu. Head judge Shirley Ballas voted for Wright-Phillips and Warr. Anton Du Beke, who held the casting vote, then chose Winstone and Gu.

Wright-Phillips and Warr reprised their jive to “Faith” by Stevie Wonder featuring Ariana Grande, which had scored 17. Winstone and Gu repeated their foxtrot to Olivia Dean’s “Man I Need”, which had scored 25. Winstone and Gu reached the dance-off after the public vote, having scored one point more than Cach Mercer and Maddie Ingoldsby. Wright-Phillips had finished at the bottom of the leaderboard, while Delta Goodrem received the series’ first score of 10 from a judge. Tabby Stoecker scored 37 out of 40.

After the result, Wright-Phillips thanked the people who had helped him and said: “It’s been the most amazing journey I’ve had.” Warr praised his resilience. The BBC programme also announced its first triple dance-off for next week’s Halloween episode. The three couples with the lowest combined judges’ scores and public votes will dance again before the judges eliminate one pair. The programme will return to a two-couple dance-off for the rest of the series.