Rylan Clark was back at the helm as he kicked off another week of It Takes Two. The presenter was joined on the Strictly Come Dancing spin-off by the latest couple to be eliminated from the competition, Ellie Simmonds and Nikita Kuzmin, as well as Will Mellor and Nancy Xu who made it through to week eight.
It is the first time Ellie and Nikita have spoken about their emotional exit from the BBC One dance contest. And 24 hours after the latest results were revealed, emotions were still high as professional dancer Nikita struggled to speak about their latest, and final, routine in the ballroom.
The pair lost their place in the competition after landing in the bottom two with Molly Rainford and Carlos Gu. Ellie and Nikita reprised their charleston to Too Darn Hot from Kiss Me Kate. All four judges Anton Du Beke, Craig Revel-Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Shirley Ballas opted to save CBBC star, Molly.
During the results show, fans were crying as a tearful Nikita was asked if he had words for his dance partner and gave an emotional speech. He told her: "I love you Els. I just want to tell you every single person in this room loves you."
And speaking to Rylan on It Takes Two on Monday (November 7), Ellie said her exit from the show was like going through a "heartbreak" and thanked everyone including the show floor manager for her experience. She asked: "What am I going to do now? I'm not going to be with him every single day."
The gold medal winner added: "It's been the most incredible time." Despite her departure being "so sad" Ellie said she would be supporting her co-stars "all the way" on the rest of their journeys on the famous dancefloor.
But during their chat, Rylan noticed a pattern emerging as four out of six couples that have been eliminated were booted off the show for their Charleston attempts as Ellie explained that she found the dance difficult to get her head around.
The 34-year-old presenter said: "Dance of death, this series, by the sounds of it!" Nikita appeared to agree as he said: "I'm just saying, four [out] of the six, yeah?" Rylan then added: "What's going on here? It's cursed."
Meanwhile, Will Mellor also made an emotional appearance on the show as he discussed his upcoming routine. As Rylan revealed the song he and Nancy will be performing to on Saturday night, Lionel Richie's Three Times A Lady, actor Will appeared somber as he told how his dad, who died suddenly in 2020, used to sing to his mum.
"It's tough, it's good, it's a very emotional song for me. It means a lot to me, this song. So it's been an emotional day, it's been a bit of a cloud," the Two Pints of Lager star said of training. "She's [Nancy] been trying to teach me but I've not been myself. I've been a bit emotional. It's a song me dad used to sing to me mum. I didn't choose the song but they sort of said, do you want to do it. But it is just absolutely means a lot.
"And what's very strange is, when you go through grief, you think you can talk about things and then you hear songs and all of a sudden it hits you like a tonne of bricks. And this routine, I was dancing with Nancy today, and I was in bits. But you know what, it will be an honour on the night to do it and I just hope I can hold it together because today I've been all over the place."
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