Bethany Antonia and Nancy Xu have become the sixth couple eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing 2026 after losing the dance-off on Sunday's results show. The actress, known for her role in House Of The Dragon, and her professional partner were defeated by Cach Mercer and Maddie Ingoldsby, with head judge Shirley Ballas casting the deciding vote.
Dance-Off Defeat
On Saturday night, Bethany and Nancy performed the foxtrot to Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis, scoring 30 out of 40 points from the judges, placing them joint fourth on the leaderboard. Cach and Maddie, who performed their waltz to That Ain't You by Mulaa Joans, scored 26 on Saturday, putting them joint bottom.
In the dance-off, judges Anton Du Beke, Motsi Mabuse, and Craig Revel Horwood were split, with Du Beke saving Cach and Maddie, while Mabuse and Revel Horwood voted to save Bethany and Nancy. Shirley Ballas had the deciding vote and saved Cach and Maddie, sending them through to week eight.
Bethany's 'Lesson' to Viewers
Speaking after their exit on Light's Up, the spin-off show that airs after the results show each Sunday, Bethany revealed she "had a feeling" it would be her day to leave. "I just feel so lucky that that was the one we went out on," she said. "I had a feeling, it has been a very spiritual day, I had a feeling that today was a change of a chapter."
This was the third time Bethany and Nancy landed in the dance-off. "It was really emotional, the first one was so anxious, so sad, so nervous. The second one was joy. And this was like I've come and done the thing I wanted to," Bethany explained.
Asked if her Strictly experience had lived up to her expectations, Bethany said: "Oh it absolutely did. It exceeded my expectations of what it would feel like and the highlight of getting to do it with Nancy. I can't put it into words." Nancy added: "People will always remember Bethany Antonia."
In a message to viewers at home, Bethany said: "If anyone is watching this, this is a lesson to vote for people you want to save because the leader board is so hard to predict."
