A nervy and sombre Week 8 on Strictly Come Dancing – the shadow of Blackpool loomed a little too large and weighed heavy on proceedings – was capped off by something of a shock as reality TV star and I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! winner Vicky Pattison was sent home after losing the dance-off to EastEnders star Balvinder Sopal.
Such has Pattison’s astonishing improvement been in recent weeks that it was starting to look like the effervescent Geordie would make the final.
Last week, her fierce tango, with professional partner Kai Widdrington, scored a near-perfect 39 and saw her top the leader-board.
This week, a clumsy jive gained only 27 from the judges – the same score as Sopal and her partner Julian Caillon.
Reality TV star Vicky Pattison has been eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing on the day of her 38th birthday – Guy Levy/BBC
Having mastered her early-week jitters, it is somewhat ironic that it was Pattison’s nerves that let her down tonight. Her performance in the dance-off was poor – rushed, out-of-sync and littered with mistakes. All four judges opted to save Sopal and Caillon.
During the judges’ verdicts, Pattison looked as if she might be sick. “This is a horrible place to be,” she had said beforehand.
Unsurprisingly, Sopal tackled the dance-off with no nerves whatsoever. She is an old hand at it now, with this Sunday being her fourth. She becomes only the fifth celebrity to survive four Strictly dance-offs.
Three of them – Jamie Laing, Fleur East and Molly Rainford – went on to be losing finalists. The fourth, pop star Jamelia, is the only celebrity to have ever contested a fifth dance-off, which she lost.
Sopal has the chance to make history in the coming weeks.
Craig Revel Horwood admitted the weekend had been “a let-down”, with low scores and inconsistent performances. His fellow judge Motsi Mabuse put it down to the pressure of not wanting to lose out on performing at the Blackpool Tower Ballroom at the last possible moment.
Pattison’s performance was followed by a prolonged exit interview with Tess Daly – Guy Levy/BBC
Emotional and heartfelt intro videos from La Voix and George Clarke about losing loved ones added to a downbeat atmosphere throughout the weekend.
The dance-off itself had a strange tone, with Sopal admitting bluntly that she “didn’t want to do it”, while the whole thing made Revel Horwood “anxious”.
No one, however, was feeling worse than Pattison, who crumbled under the pressure and presented a dance-off jive that Mr Men’s Mr Jelly would be proud of. An unusually prolonged exit interview with Tess Daly paid tribute to how much of a shock Pattison’s performance was and how well thought of she is on the show. “I let my nerves get in the way,” she said. “I’m so, so gutted.”
Next week, the remaining seven couples will compete at the “iconic” ballroom in Blackpool, but Pattison won’t be among them.
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