Second celebrity leaves Strictly Come Dancing after ‘mistakes’ in dance-off

Nikita Kanda has been eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing after making “a few mistakes” in the dreaded dance-off against Zara McDermott.

The BBC Asian Network presenter said she did not want to leave and felt she had let her professional partner Gorka Marquez down before describing him as “the biggest support”.

The 28-year-old faced elimination for the second consecutive week on the BBC show after scoring 21 with her movie week jive, channelling 90s film Clueless.

She faced Love Island star McDermott and her partner Graziano Di Prima who had scored 25 for their Puss In Boots paso doble on Saturday night.

Both couples performed their routines again in a bid to impress the judges, however 26-year-old McDermott was saved by all four judges.

Judge Motsi Mabuse said Kanda made “a few mistakes that were quite visible” while Anton Du Beke agreed “there were a couple of small mistakes”.

Kanda told co-host Tess Daly: “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.”

Marquez added: “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!”

During the results show, Marquez played Ken from the hit film Barbie in a professional performance, channelling Hollywood star Ryan Gosling from the 2023 comedy, while US singer Madison Beer performed.

The remaining 13 couples will take to the dancefloor next week when Strictly Come Dancing returns at 6.30pm on Saturday.