Nikita Kanda has become the second celebrity to be eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing 2023.
The BBC Asian Network presenter and her professional partner Gorka Marquez found themselves second from bottom on the Movie Week leaderboard on Saturday night, scoring 21 out of 40 for their Jive to ‘Kids In America’ for ‘Clueless’. They faced former Love Island contestant and documentary presenter Zara McDermott and her partner Graziano Di Prima in the dreaded dance-off, who scored 25 out of 40 for their Paso Doble to ‘The Puss Suite’ from ‘Puss In Boots’.
After both couples performed their routines again, presenter Tess Daly asked the judges which pair they would like to save and see dance again on next week’s show. Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke all chose to save Zara and Graziano, meaning Nikita and Gorka were sadly eliminated.
Head judge Shirley Ballas was not required to vote, but said she would have also saved Zara and Graziano.
When asked by Tess about her time on the show, Nikita said: “I don’t want to leave yet, I feel like I’ve let him [Gorka] down. I’ve had the best time and I love all my Strictly family, I’m going to miss you all. This has been a dream come true, I’m so grateful. I’ve got to say the biggest thank you to Gorka, he has been the biggest support and I’ve had the best time ever.”
Gorka was then asked by Tess about Nikita overcoming her nerves and how proud he is of her. He said: “I am beyond proud of her, for someone that doesn’t have any dance experience or performance experience to come on this show and dance in front of millions of people – for three weeks, I think it’s incredible. You should be very proud of yourself, you have never let me down and I am very proud of you. This show is going to teach you so many things about yourself that you can take with you and I take incredible memories. I’ve never laughed so much in three weeks than I did with you!”
Sunday’s Results show also featured the Strictly professional dancers taking us on a visit to Barbie Land, whilst Madison Beer performed her song Showed Me (How I fell In Love With You) in the ballroom.
Nikita and Gorka will be joining Fleur East and Janette Manrara for their first exclusive televised interview live on Strictly: It Takes Two on Monday 9th October at 6:30pm on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.
The remaining 13 couples will take to the dancefloor next week when Strictly Come Dancing returns on Saturday 14th October at 6:30PM with the results show on Sunday 15th October at 7:15PM on BBC One. Both of this weekend’s episodes are available to watch now via BBC iPlayer.
