Eddie Kadi has become the fourth celebrity to be eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing 2023.
The comedian and broadcaster and his professional partner Karen Hauer found themselves at the bottom of the leaderboard last night, scoring just 24 points out of 40 for their Samba to ‘Calm Down’ by Rema featuring Selena Gomez. They faced documentary maker Zara McDermott and her partner Graziano Di Prima in the dreaded dance-off, who scored 28 points on Saturday night for their American Smooth to LeAnn Rimes’s ‘Can’t Fight The Moonlight’.
After both couples performed their routines again, presenter Tess Daly asked the judges which pair they wanted to save. Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke all voted for Zara and Graziano, meaning that unfortunately Eddie and Karen were sent home. Head judge Shirley Ballas was not required to vote, but said she would also have saved Zara and Graziano.
When asked by Tess about his time on the show, Eddie said: “I’ve really enjoyed this, it’s something I’ve always wanted to do – I love dancing. This has been the highest moment of my career – it’s the happiest I’ve ever been, but not just for me – my family – my little baby girl is at home doing the Men in Black dance. More importantly, this little African boy, I just wanted my culture to shine. Everything I stand for, when it comes to my comedy, when it comes to my presenting, is based on my culture, is based on my upbringing and I wanted that to shine most importantly. Even more importantly this wonderful queen [to Karen], there are two parts to this show – we want to entertain, I believe that God has brought this to me, I just want to make people happy and this gem over here has kept me happy – I love you so much God bless you.”
Tess then asked Karen about how proud she was of Eddie. She said: “You are a treasure, I’m going to miss you [to Eddie] – well I’ll see you tomorrow! We’re going to take up Congolese dancing. I just want to thank you so much for being so positive and bringing such light and smiling, just a beauty to all of us, I want to thank you so much.”
Sunday’s Results Show also featured Strictly’s troupe of professional dancers taking viewers back in time with a fabulous 60s Fosse-inspired number, as well as a very special Planet Earth III-themed performance of ‘Pompeii’ from Bastille in the ballroom.
Eddie and Karen will be joining Fleur East for their first exclusive televised interview live on Strictly: It Takes Two on Monday 23rd October at 6:30pm on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.
The remaining couples will be back on the dancefloor next week when Strictly Come Dancing returns for a spook-tacular Halloween special on Saturday 28th October at 6:40pm with the results show on Sunday 29th October at 7:20pm on BBC One. Both of this weekend’s episodes are available to watch now via BBC iPlayer.
