Actress Alex Kingston has become the eighth celebrity to be voted off Strictly Come Dancing, departing the show in Sunday night’s results show ahead of next week’s Musicals Week quarter final. The 62-year-old, best known for roles in ER and A Discovery of Witches, lost a tense dance-off against EastEnders star Balvinder Sopal.
Kingston and her professional partner Johannes Radebe performed their Cha Cha to Anita Ward’s Ring My Bell in a last-ditch attempt to stay in the competition, but the judges opted to save Sopal and her partner Julian Caillon, who danced their Jive to Right Back Where We Started From. Sopal survived her fifth dance-off of the series.
An emotional Kingston told host Tess Daly: “I had never in my wildest dreams imagined that I would last this long. It’s been just the most incredible journey for me. I feel quite proud of myself because I’ve loved the process. Everyone always says that their dance partner is a friend for life, but JoJo really will be.”
Radebe praised their bond, saying: “I’ve never grinned as much as I have in the last few weeks. Thank you Alex for being a trooper. As far as the dancing goes, I think we’ve achieved what we wanted to achieve. These memories are just the beginning for us.”
The weekend’s leaderboard combined votes and judges’ scores from last week’s Blackpool Special with points from the new Instant Dance challenge. Kingston and Radebe will appear on Strictly: It Takes Two on Monday. The remaining five couples will compete in the quarter final, which includes a new high-stakes dance challenge.
