Strictly Come Dancing fans 'surprised' as they notice something different about first elimination

Strictly Come Dancing fans were left surprised by the results of the first elimination after noticing something different about the way the public voted this year.

Les Dennis and his dance partner Nancy Xu became the first couple voted out of the competition after their sailor-themed Samba to Rock The Boat failed to impress the judges.

The dance began with Les, 69, being lowered from the ceiling on a giant glittering anchor before joining his partner on the dancefloor. Viewers were left cringing as the TV star, dressed in a sailor outfit, shimmied across the floor looking unsteady on his feet.

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After public voting closed last night the judges’ scores from last week, when no one was voted off, were added to Saturday night's totals, and were then combined with the results of the viewers’ votes to decide who would be taking part in the dreaded dance off. It was radio presenter Nikita Kanda and her professional partner Gorka Marquez who joined Les and Nancy in the bottom two.

After both couples had performed their routines for a second time, the judges delivered their verdicts with Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke all choosing to save Nikita and Gorka, meaning Les and Nancy had to go. Head judge Shirley Ballas agreed that she would have decided to save Nikita and Gorka had there not been a majority verdict.

When asked by Tess about their time on the show, Les said: “I’ve had the best time, this lady has been amazing, a great teacher, she’s really put me through my paces." Turning to Nancy, he said: "I did as well as I could for you, I hope!"