'We had a blast': Dudley's Amy Dowden speaks out after she and Brian Conley were voted off Strictly Come Dancing

Dowden, aged 26, who lives in Dudley, and veteran comic Conley became the latest pair to be voted off following a dance-off with Sunday Brunch presenter Simon Rimmer and Karen Cliften.

But Amy said they were pleased to have made it to week five.

She said: “I have had the most incredible journey. I experienced things I’d dreamed of since I was a little girl. To be part of the biggest show on TV was amazing. Brian did an absolutely fantastic job. He was hilarious. This year’s competition was so strong and we just made sure all the way through we had a blast.

“Brian is lovely and his daughter wants to start dancing now. What we can take from it is we have given it all and had the best time.”

The couple found themselves languishing at the bottom of the leaderboard on Saturday night after their jive performance earned them a meagre 16 points, placing them in joint last with three other pairs.

Conley was the oldest man in the competition at 56 so expectations about how far he could go in the show were always limited.

Amy said: “He worked so hard and we had so much fun. If things started to get tough we would lighten the mood.”

The dancer, who is originally from Wales, said she had her ‘fingers crossed’ about returning to Strictly next year and taking part in the tour.

Amy also brushed off reports in the national press about Conley’s comments appearing the criticise the Strictly studio after being voted off, insisted it was ‘just a joke’.

The BBC cut part of what was said from the show, according to reports.

She said: “Everybody was laughing. It was nothing like it was described in the papers, it was not like that in the slightest. He’s a comedian.”