Nikita Kuzmin left his Strictly Come Dancing partner Ellie Simmonds in tears with a comment he made as they were voted off the show this weekend.
Paralympic swimming champion Ellie had been a real fan favourite since the get-go on Strictly this year, with fans absolutely loving her partnership with Nikita, who came close to making the final with Tilly Ramsay last year. On Saturday night, Ellie and Nikita bounced back from finishing second bottom of the leaderboard a week earlier, by receiving a personal best score of 33 out of 40 for their Charleston.
That saw them tied at the middle of the table with Will Mellor and the 'curse' struck again as their great score wasn't enough to keep them out of danger. They landed in the dance-off alongside Molly Rainford and Carlos Gu, who got an even higher score of 35 on Saturday. The judges looked just as shocked as viewers at home by the unexpected outcome and after both couples dances again, they decided to keep Molly and Carlos in, with a unanimous verdict.
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Ellie looked gutted to be leaving and, as the result started to sink in, she was then let wiping tears away as pro Nikita took the opportunity to praise her. As emotions ran high in the ballroom, he told her: "She taught me so, so much. So much empathy, so much....just everything, I learnt so much over the weeks."
And then, as Ellie started crying, he added: "I just want to tell you. Every single person in this room, EVERY single person loves you. Everyone," with Ellie then becoming more emotional as host Tess Daly remarked: "He's right!"
The strength of admiration for Ellie from her co-stars was emphasised by the fact they held her up in the air and chanted her name, after she and Nikita performed their exit dance to Everlasting Love.
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