Ugo Monye eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing

24 October 2021

Ugo Monye has become the latest celebrity to be eliminated from 'Strictly Come Dancing'.

Ugo Monye

The former rugby player and his professional partner Oti Mabuse were sent home by the judges following the dreaded dance off with Rhys Stephenson and his partner Nancy Xu.

Ugo and Oti performed a Rumba to 'Leave The Door Open' by Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak and Silk Sonic before Rhys and Nancy danced the American Smooth to 'I’ve Got The World On A String' by Michael Buble in a bid to keep themselves in the competition, but the judges unanimously decided to send Ugo home.

Craig Revel Horwood said: "I just want to say I have the greatest respect for every celebrity who is brave enough to come on this show and bare their heart and soul to the nation, it takes guts. But, the couple I’d like to save is Rhys and Nancy."

Motsi Mabuse also opted to save Rhys and Nancy and they "performed better" in the dance off.

She said: "I feel from the two couples, one couple was definitely stronger in this performance and I will save Rhys and Nancy."

Anton Du Beke also opted to save the CBBC presenter and his partner.

He said: "Well, it so often turns out that the dance off seems to instil something in the couples and they’ve produced their best performances. So, on that performance alone, I’m going to give it to Rhys and Nancy."

Although her vote was rendered academic by her fellow judges, Shirley Ballas admits she would have saved Rhys and Nancy.

The head judge said: "Yes, I would have saved Rhys and Nancy."

Ugo admitted that he "loved" his time on 'Strictly" and thanked Oti for helping him improve his dancing.

He said: "I’ve loved it. It’s an absolute privilege to be on this show and all I’ve wanted to do every week is just get a little bit better and I’ve done that. There’s lots of people that I would love to say thank you to. Oti, firstly, just for putting up with me. She said she wanted a challenge and she got one! To everyone else that’s in the competition, it’s truly incredible and I wish you all the very best of luck. To the judges – Craig – I think it’s really important to say that if you’re willing to accept the positive comments, you have to accept the criticism as well so thank you for all of your comments."

The remaining ten couples will take to the dancefloor next when Strictly Come Dancing returns on Saturday (30.10.21) for Halloween week, with the results show following on Sunday (31.10.21) on BBC One.