Who left Strictly tonight as Balvinder Sopal in dance-off for the fifth time?
Fan-favourite star crashes out the week before the quarter-final
Balvinder Sopal found herself in the Strictly Come Dancing bottom two for the fifth time, as she faced a tense dance-off with ER and Doctor Who star Alex Kingston.
On Saturday night, Alex danced a disaster-hit Cha Cha Cha, before taking on a Rumba in the Instant Dance challenge. Balvinder, meanwhile, performed a Jive, before dancing a Paso Doble in the Instant Dance challenge.
And, after the ladies had performed their initial routines again, it was time for the judges to decide who to send home…
Who left Strictly Come Dancing tonight?
This week’s leaderboard was a culmination of last week’s Blackpool Special votes and judges’ scores, as well as extra points from Saturday night’s brand-new Instant Dance challenge, where a maximum of six marks were available for the performance that impressed the judges the most.
After both couples had danced a second time in the dance off, the judges delivered their verdicts.
Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse chose to save Balvinder and partner Julian Caillon. Anton Du Beke saved Alex and partner Johannes Radebe.
That meant it was down to this week’s head judge Shirley Ballas to cast the deciding vote. Shirley saved Balvinder and Julian, meaning Alex was sent home.
‘The most incredible journey’
She 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, I mean 100%, you can tell by my smile. Everyone always says that their dance partner is a friend for life, but JoJo really will be.”
Johannes added: “I’ve never grinned as much as I have in the last few weeks. Thank you Alex for being a trooper, I will hold on to the memories. As far as the dancing goes, I think we’ve achieved what we wanted to achieve. These memories are just the beginning for us, we can say that we are very much a Strictly family.”
Strictly continues next Saturday (December 6) at 6.50pm with the show’s quarter-final, a Musicals Week special.
Read more: Accident-hit Strictly Come Dancing star to return for 2026 Live Tour
