Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Dance-off no laugh for Strictly’s Susan
SUSAN Calman became the ninth celebrity to leave Strictly Come Dancing last night, after facing Alexandra Burke in a dance-off.
The Scottish comic must have known it was time to hang up her dancing shoes when she found out who she was up against.
And sure enough, the judges were unanimous when it came to saving Alex, who had scored highly on the night for her rumba and also triumphed in the Paso Doble-thon.
Susan, 42, admitted that she and professional partner Kevin Clifton had lasted far longer on the show than she’d expected.
“We got far further than we thought we would,” she said, thanking her friends and family – including “my lovely wife, who’s here every week supporting me”.
Susan – who didn’t mix much with the other contestants backstage, according to show insiders – declared that she had “loved every minute” of her time in the BBC contest.
And paying tribute to Kevin, she said: “I’ve made a friend for life. Kevin may not have won the Glitterball this year but he’s won Strictly for me.”
Kevin, married to fellow pro dancer Karen, responded: “Strictly brings a lot of joy and happiness into the world through the wonderful thing that is dance. And I think, Susan, you’ve been the absolute epitome of joy and happiness throughout this whole competition, which in my eyes makes you a beautiful dancer.
“So thank you for dancing with me and being my friend.”
The six remaining contestants will compete in Musicals Week for the quarter-finals. And Alexandra may be reeling from finding herself in the bottom two but she should remember one thing: Ore Oduba lifted the glitterball last December... and he’d previously faced the dreaded dance-off TWICE.