Dame Sarah Storey became the third celebrity to leave Strictly Come Dancing on Sunday night, and former professional Brendan Cole said her exit was inevitable.
Dance-off elimination
Icons Week saw the remaining 13 couples perform as legendary music royalty, and Dame Sarah and her professional partner Julian Caillon found themselves in the dance-off against Bethany Antonia and Nancy Xu.
After both pairs performed again, judges Anton Du Beke, Motsi Mabuse and Craig Revel Horwood unanimously chose to save Bethany and Nancy. Head judge Shirley, holding the deciding vote this week, confirmed she would also have kept them in the competition.
Brendan Cole's verdict
Speaking to Express.co.uk on behalf of Sky Vegas, Brendan said "it was unlikely she was going to go much further in the show." He said: "She hasn't been a particularly strong dancer, so she was never really going to be a contender. But she had a nice number to finish on. She looked like she enjoyed it and she got into character, which is half the battle. I hope she had a lovely time on the show, and week four? That's not bad."
He added: "They were the right couple to go in my opinion. At the start of the show, out of 15 couples, there are always going to be four or five that don't really show much promise. The rest have a chance to improve and get themselves somewhere near the end. Sarah was one of those who just didn't have that dance ability in the first place, so her days were pretty much numbered from the start."
Sarah's farewell
On It Takes Two, Dame Sarah described the Strictly experience as "completely different from anything I've done before" and "a big level up" from her usual life. She admitted she had found the routine 'tough' throughout the week, though Saturday night marked the "best" performance she had delivered.
Strictly Come Dancing returns next Saturday and Sunday on BBC One.
