Strictly Come Dancing professional Nadiya Bychkova has admitted she is “absolutely gutted” to have been booted from the competition – with her former partners and co-stars revealing their shock at the result.
On Sunday night, despite giving their all during the dance-off against Toyah Willcox and Neil Jones, the judges decided to save Willcox and send her through to week four of the competition.
When speaking to Tess Daly about how she felt to be going home, Bychkova expressed: “To get to know him, he’s not just a three-time Olympic champion he’s a true gentleman and he taught me how to work really hard and how to put everything in.
“And you know what? On this programme, sometimes to win, you don’t need to win, and that’s how I feel this year.”
The 35-year-old and Dean recently joined It Takes Two host Fleur East to discuss how they felt to no longer be in the competition, with the Olympian admitting: “I definitely wanted to go further, I am gutted, there are no two ways about it and we have spoken about it loads.
“I did give it my all and there was nothing more that I could have given and I loved every part of it. Some people found it really tough, they enjoyed the training more than the shows or the other way around but I loved it all.
“We trained really really hard together, and we had a great time, I loved the shows on the weekend and it was really special and there was no bit that I didn’t enjoy so for it to get cut show like that was gutting and I said I don’t know what more either of us could have done.
“It was a genuine shock and I just wish I could have kept going.”
Emotional and unable to get her words out, Bychkova added: “Well… very similar to what Tom just said, it was a shock and I am absolutely gutted that I won’t get a chance to teach this wonderful man another dance and then maybe another dance, we had so so many plans.
“I was so excited about Movie Week, what we could have done and the dance we were preparing. I had all the choreography to this because I really love the show but being able to teach someone like Tom made me fall in love with the show even more.
“He is really special and I genuinely enjoyed every moment of our rehearsals. Every time he walked into the room he just brought joy, and he brought joy to Strictly so we will be missing that very much.”
Minutes after the results were revealed, the professional dancer took to her Instagram and posted an image of their pair, with the caption reading: “I really appreciate all the messages but I’m not ready to talk about what happened tonight just yet.”
Hours later, she penned another post which read: “Tom had so much to give and I had so much I wanted to teach him. His improvement in the last 2 weeks has been incredible and I think, actually I know, he could have become a brilliant dancer.
“I’m devastated that you won’t get to see that. My 3-time Olympic Champion was an amazing student and is a wonderful gentleman. He will go on to bigger and better things and I know this year he could have had a brilliant Strictly story.
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“I love this show and I want to wish the other couples all the best and I’m sure it’s going to be a great series. Thank you for your kindness.”
The star’s elimination sparked outrage with fans claiming that the results had been “fixed”, with her former partner Dan Walker penning on X: “What just happened on Strictly feels a bit messed up. @tomdean00’s departure will go down as one of THE early shocks.
“Lovely bloke who really could have become a great dancer. He looked like he was loving every second of it and @NadiyaBychkova looked like she loved teaching him. I’m not an expert – and I’m happy for someone to explain – but how he lost that dance-off is completely beyond my comprehension. Genuinely thought they could have gone a long way.”
Jones seemingly hit back at the “fix” row which has erupted and penned on Instagram how well improved he thought Willcox was, ignoring Bychkova and Dean’s elimination.
