BBC Strictly Come Dancing fans in uproar as Tom Dean crashes out after shock dance off result

The first celebrity of this year's Strictly Come Dancing has been sent home after Toyah Willcox and Tom Dean found themselves in the bottom two

There was widespread shock from Strictly Come Dancing fans last night when Olympian Tom Dean became the first to leave the dance competition after coming up against Toyah Willcox in the dreaded dance off.

With the scores added up over two weeks, the swimming champion was easily expected to win the backing of the judges, having drawn 13 more points than his rival, who was languishing at the bottom of the leaderboard.

But even though judge Anton du Beke tried to save the triple gold medallist, he eventually lost out to the punk singer, despite her having 30 points compared with his 43. Tom, 24, and dance partner Nadiya Bychkova had opened the show on Saturday with a Cha Cha to Boogie Wonderland by Earth, Wind & Fire.

It was a close run contest with Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse choosing to save Toyah and her partner Neil Jones, who danced a jive to Tina Turner’s Nutbush City Limits. With Anton giving his backing to Tom and Nadiya, the casting vote went to head judge Shirley B allas, who saved the 80s music star.

Toyah, 66, had threatened to “cry for a week” if she was chosen to leave the competition. Speaking this weekend she declared: “I’m not ready to go home, I’m loving every minute. This is everything I’ve ever wanted in life - I’m at Elstree, I’m in the most amazing programme, I’m with Neil. I’m having the party of my life. I just don’t want to go back and cook!”

She said that husband Robert Fripp, formerly of King Crimson, was fending for himself for the first time in 38 years while she trained for six hours a day in London. “I will honestly have to adjust to not being in this incredible experience if I go out. We have a very secret place we go to in the UK, which is by the sea, and I will probably go there and cry for a week and then get back to my normal life. My husband is 78 and every second of time with him is very, very precious but he knows that I’m loving this and he’s been generous enough to let me be here without making any demands on me whatsoever.”

Last week Toyah was handed just 12 points for her tango, improving to score 18 for this week’s jive. Tom pulled in 23 points for his tango debut and 20 points for his Cha Cha, which also placed him above fellow celebs Nick Knowles, Pete Wicks, Punam Krishan and Paul Merson on the leaderboard.

The sportsman seemed crestfallen by his early exit, telling host Tess Daly: “I’ve had the best time the last few weeks and getting to work with Nadiya has been incredible. I wish I could have gone further and done more dances - I wish we could keep going longer and longer.”

It’s also a big blow for Nadiya, 35, having not been given a partner in last year’s show. Putting a brave face on she insisted: “On this programme, sometimes to win, you don’t need to win, and that’s how I feel this year.” She added: “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.”

Nadiya, from Ukraine, joined the series in 2017 and has never won. Her best year came in 2021 when she finished in fifth place with TV presenter Dan Walker.

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